The Uchiha In The Leaves (KakashixOC)
by inlovewithjuicey
Summary: What happens when Raven finally returns to the Village Hidden in the Leaves? Her life is flipped upside down when not only does she find the man that had awaited her return the whole time she was gone, but she finds someone she never thought she'd see again.
1. 1: You've Grown So Much

***Raven's P.O.V***

I sat at the side of the Hokage, staring at the Jonin in front of me. The faces of strangers stared back at me. I only recognized three faces in the whole room. The familiar cigarette hanging out of the mouth of the rough and tough Asuma. The long, black hair that Kurenai wore past her shoulders with pride. Last, but not least, the spiky, silver hair of the man with the Sharingan, otherwise known as the copycat ninja, Kakashi Hatake.

The Hokage spoke before any of us. "I've brought you all here to assign you your new Genin teams. As I say your name please step forward. Kurenai Yuhi." As her name was spoken she stepped forward. "You will have the following students; Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka joined by his Ninken, Akamaru." Kurenai stepped backwards and bowed to the Hokage.

"Asuma Sarutobi." Asuma stepped forward. "The following students will be joining you; Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka." Asuma stepped into the line with the other Jonin and, as the next name was called, I completely tuned out.

I was snapped out of my zoned-out state when I heard my name being spoken. "Raven." I could hear the faint sound of my name over my daydreaming. "Raven... Raven... RAVEN!"

I looked over at the Hokage in surprise. "Sorry Lord Hokage."

The Hokage continued to speak. "Kakashi Hatake." Kakashi stepped forward. He was the last of the Jonin to be assigned Genin. "Kakashi, you will be assigned the following students to form team seven; Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha."

When I heard the last name of the final kid that was announced I jumped out of my seat. "Lord Hokage, did you just say Uchiha?"

"Yes, I did, an addition to your team." He continued to speak to Kakashi like I wasn't standing with my mouth gaping open. "Kakashi, I called someone here to help you, you're going to have your hands full with this team. You will have a second person to help you lead team seven. Raven Momochi will be joining you."

A hundred thoughts went flying through my head. I thought that I had been the last of the Uchiha Clan after my younger brother, Itachi had wiped us out. Hearing my youngest brother's name spoken was surreal.

The Hokage clearly sensed that I was tense. "Is something wrong Raven?"

I was known as Raven Momochi. I had changed my last name when I was 19 so that my brother couldn't track me down as easily. My worst fear was Itachi finding me again, even if I was much stronger than I was before. I glanced up at the Hokage. "No, my lord, just thinking.

"Thinking about the Uchiha boy, aren't you?" The Hokage turned to see my reaction. "We all thought that the clan had been wiped out as well, but now you get the pleasure of seeing firsthand what the Uchiha Clan had for power. Sasuke was brought back into the village right after the attack. He had been found wandering aimlessly, looking for someone. He was taken care of by a couple that were unable to bear children, they stop by his apartment every day and take care of him. We never figured out who he had been searching for, he never told us."

I bowed to him and walked forward to see Kakashi. Kakashi may be my biggest headache sometimes, but he was the only one that knew the truth about who I was. He's the only person that knows I'm an Uchiha and not truly a Momochi. I turned and watched the Hokage leave the room before I began to speak to him. Kakashi could tell I was about to freak out so he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the room so that I wasn't being stared at by everyone.

When we were out of the room and in the hallway Kakashi pushed me up against the wall, hard, to try to snap me out of my funk. He raised his voice as he spoke. "Raven, you need to get a hold of yourself and relax."

"But... I... My brother... I thought Sasuke... Was dead..." I couldn't spit anything out into whole sentences and felt like I was hyperventilating. "I could have... He's been alone..."

"It's not your fault Raven." Kakashi tried to comfort me. He put his hands behind my head on the back of my neck and pushed me forward, kissing my forehead.

"I spent too much time in the Village Hidden in the Mist... and Sasuke was here the whole time..."

"I know Raven... I know." He held my chin in his hand and tilted my head up so I was looking at him. When we locked eyes, he put his lips on mine, even though his black mask was in the way.

We had been doing this long enough now that the sensation of the mask on my lips was something I longed for. I was the only person that Kakashi had ever let see him unmasked. He may be a pain, but he's the one person I trusted the most, we just weren't ready to make our relationship quite so public yet.

"I have to see him before we meet the other two." I stopped and pictured Sasuke and his goofy grin as a kid. I wondered how much he'd grown. "I want you to be with me... Please."

I could tell by the way Kakashi's eyes squinted that he was smiling. "Of course, wouldn't even hesitate."

* * *

I approached the door step of the apartment that was listed on Sasuke's academy paperwork. I couldn't bring myself to lift my arm and knock. What if Sasuke didn't want to see me? What if he was mad that I hadn't searched harder for him? Kakashi stood behind me and when he noticed that I hadn't knocked yet he reached around me and knocked on the door. Before stepping back, he kissed the back of my head and whispered in my ear. "You can do this Raven. I'm right here."

The door began to open and my heart began to beat out of my chest. A small lady with graying hair stood in the doorway in front of me. "Can I help you sweetie?" I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I swallowed hard as the lady gave me an odd look. She looked behind me at Kakashi. "Kakashi-Sensei, are you looking for Sasuke? I heard he's going to be on your team."

Kakashi stepped forward. "This is Raven, she's going to be helping me teach my three students. She's an Uchiha and wants-"

I cut Kakashi off. "Can I see my brother?"

The lady's mouth hung open and she opened the door wider. "Of course you can. You must be the Raven that Sasuke speaks so highly of." She paused for a moment. "He speaks of Itachi too, but not nearly in the same way."

At the sound of someone else saying my brother's name I cringed.

The lady stepped back in the apartment and spoke. "Sasuke, there's someone here to see you."

I heard footsteps and my heart felt like it would come barreling up my throat and out of my mouth before I could even see him. When the door opened, I felt like I would stop breathing. A young boy stood in front of me. Same black hair as me, same body language as me as well. Sasuke had always been my mini me. People would constantly mistake him as my child since I had always looked older than I was.

Seeing the leaf symbol on his headband made me gleam with pride, even if my headband had a different symbol. He stared for a second before realizing who was standing in front of him. He stuttered as he spoke. "Ra-Ra-Raven?"

I could feel the tears start flowing from my eyes before I could even tell that I was crying. It had been five years since I had seen him. He had grown so much. I couldn't believe that he had been here this whole time and I had been somewhere else. I nodded to him and he jumped into my arms. I squeezed him as hard as I could, afraid that if I let go he would disappear again. "Sasuke, you've grown so much." I could feel my shoulder getting damp and I knew he was crying. I loosened my grip and held him out at arms length, wiping the tears from his eyes and smiling at him. "You're like a whole new person."

He started speaking again. "Where have you been?" He had his eyes on my headband.

I knew this conversation would be one of our first. "Why don't we go get some ramen and talk?" I looked up at the woman in the doorway. "Do you mind?"

"No, not at all." She smiled. "Call me Emori." She held her hand out for me to shake it.

I grasped her hand in mine. "Thank you Emori. Thank you for everything you've done for my brother."

* * *

The three of us sat at the local ramen shop. I looked over at Sasuke. "I'm sure you're wondering why I never came to the Leaf Village before to look for you." Sasuke nodded while taking a bite of his ramen. "I was at the Village Hidden in the Mist for a long time. I wandered there not long after the incident that night, full of hatred and rage. A man there took me in and took care of me. He became more than a friend and I couldn't let myself leave. He was the first person that I had been close to since I had lost you and everyone else in the village. I didn't even know you were still alive." I sighed.

"I was summoned back here by that Hokage not that long ago, maybe six months ago. I've built quite the reputation for myself in my training. I'm known to most as Raven Momochi. No one except a select few people in this world even know I'm an Uchiha. When I got here Kakashi let me stay with him. I'm sure you remember how close the two of us used to be. There's where I've spent most of my time now."

"So what about this guy?" Sasuke stared at me intently. His protective brother side was showing.

"It doesn't matter. That's over. There's someone new in my life and that's all that matters." I put my hand on Kakashi's knee from under the table.

"Have you found Itachi at all?"

"No, Sasuke, I stopped looking. I didn't want to find him anymore. After what he did and after I wasn't blinded by my rage anymore, I just never wanted to see him again. I could never hurt him anyway, look at how close the two of us were."

When we were younger Itachi had been my best friend, next to Kakashi that is. We were only six years apart, with me being the elder and he was my rock. When Itachi turned on us and tried to kill Sasuke and I after killing our parents, I went crazy. In a fit of rage, I sent Sasuke running for safety and attempted to take Itachi down, something I should never have done. Itachi had always been so much stronger than me and I was trapped in Itachi's Tsukuyomi. When I came out of it I tried to hunt Itachi down, but had no such luck, and in the process, I had lost Sasuke. I searched for Sasuke repeatedly for weeks before finally coming to the realization that when Itachi got away from me he must have found Sasuke.

Kakashi spoke up after being silent for so long. "It's getting late Sasuke. Shouldn't we be getting you back, you have your first day of ninja training tomorrow."

I agreed. "He's right, we should be getting you home."

"I don't want to go home Raven. I want to be with you." Sasuke gave me pleading eyes. "I can come stay with you now and get rid of that apartment, right?"

"Sasuke, we'll figure it out. I can't just take you in right away. We have to get a room ready and I have to talk to Kakashi about that in the first place, it's not my house." I wanted him with me as badly as he wanted to be there, but Kakashi and I needed to have a discussion about this first.


	2. 2: You're A Bunch Of Idiots

***Kakashi's P.O.V***

***Smut Warning***

As morning approached I could hear our alarms going off. The start of a new life while training team seven. I already knew that trying to keep Sasuke from looking for Itachi was going to be Raven's main concern. I rolled over and wrapped my arms around her. When she looked over at me I kissed her nose. "Good morning."

She smiled weakly at me. "Morning." I stared at her for a moment before starting to sit up to get out of bed. She grabbed my arm as I tried. "Wait." I laid back down, resting on my elbows and watched her. It always seemed funny to know that she was seeing me without my mask. The only time I didn't wear it was when we were sleeping at home or in the shower. She put her hands on my cheeks. "I love you."

I smiled at her and put my right hand over hers. "I love you, too."

She pulled my face to her and kissed me. The unfamiliar feeling of her lips was something that we were still getting used to, even after all this time. A young Raven Uchiha had been my first kiss and we had lost a certain something to each other as teens as well. I had kissed her lips many times before as a teen, even though I had worn the mask then as well. I lowered myself back against the bed as the kiss grew more intimate. Raven climbed on top of me, straddling my hips. I chuckled a little and flipped her over onto her back a second later. She moved her hands from my face and brought them to my back, pulling my body closer to hers. I chuckled again and broke the kiss. "Is this really how you want to start the morning, Miss Uchiha?"

She smiled as she kissed me. "It's gonna be a stressful day, why not start off with a stress reliever?" I smiled and kissed her cheek, slowly kissing all the way down her body, stopping at her hips. This kind of stuff always got me more excited than it did her. She smiled at me and put her hand in my hair. "Quit teasing, we don't have long before we have to leave, we can't be late on their first day."

I looked up at her with pleasing eyes. "Who cares if we're a little late. You know I'm a giver." I knew that was something that she usually went for, something I always started off with. I was set on this morning being no different than any other. I put my hands on her inner thighs and pushed them apart.

"Kakashi, we really don't have time for this." She started to sit up on her elbows to look at me better. "I'm seri-" She was rendered unable to speak the next moment. "Oh my god... Kashi."

I looked back up at her and gave a manipulating laugh. "You were saying?"

As she felt my tongue again she pleaded with me. "Kashi, I'm serious." She had all she could just to make words. She put her hand in my hair and tugged some. I could tell she was getting close to ecstasy and so could she and with that I stopped. She whimpered as I stopped. I had always been the best at getting her to the brink and teasing her, there was something I found pleasing about it.

I slowly kissed my way back up to her neck and looked into her eyes. "As you wish my queen." She slept in her underwear and a baggy t-shirt and I slept in my boxers which made it easy access for our morning escapades. I grabbed the blanket that had ended up below us and covered us up. It was the busy time of day in the village and we both knew that our blinds didn't block out as much as we'd like them too. I fumbled around under the blanket before that rush that came from my entrance. She arched her back as she grabbed our bed sheet with both hands, balling up parts of it. She screamed my name and I smirked, making a small noise, happy with myself. We matched each others movements as we both grew closer and closer to the end. A few moans escaped my lips as well as hers before we both came closer to our climax. We road out our highs together and I collapsed on the bed beside her, out of breath.

I reached an arm toward her and pulled her over to me, she laid her head on my chest, listening to my breathe. I kissed the top of her head and sighed before speaking. "I love you Raven."

She snuggled closer to me. "I love you, too, Kashi."

I sat up which made her sit up as well. "No, Raven, I mean I love you more than I think you realize. I really don't know what I'd do without you." I paused to gauge her reaction. She was smiling like an idiot. "I'd seriously be lost without you in my life. When you left all those years ago and we didn't have any contact anymore I felt like a piece of me was missing. I never knew if you felt the same way about me as I did about you when we were training and such. I never bothered to say anything... and maybe if I had, you never would have left, maybe you would have come back after everything."

She took my hand. "Kakashi, I've always had a thing for you. I just couldn't stay here after what had happened, and whether I had known you liked me back then or not that wouldn't have changed that. I couldn't handle being here, so don't blame yourself."

She threw her blankets off us and stood up from the bed, grabbing her headband off the bedside table. "Now we really need to get moving, we're really late now."

I stood up and headed toward the bathroom, turning on the shower as she got ready.

When I finished I wandered back to the bedroom, in the process of putting my mask on to hide my mask and headband, using the headband to hide my Sharingan eye with one side of it. I smiled at her. "Ready to go?"

She smiled back. "Let's go." I knew she wanted to see what her brother could do.

I had never seen her so excited to start training someone. Granted, the events of the morning might have made her mood as good as it was. She was ecstatic to see how far her brother had come. She knew I could feel it as well. Her energy was hard not to feel radiating off of her. The door to the classroom was slightly open, we could see it, and we knew that we were pretty late. Our group was probably the last group there.

I stepped through the door first. As I opened the door wider an eraser fell and smacked me, leaving the shoulders of my black shirt that I wore under my vest sprinkled white. Raven stood behind me and covered her mouth wit her hand, trying not to laugh.

A small kid with blonde hair was laughing uncontrollably as a young girl with pink hair was trying to apologize for him. "I'm so sorry Sensei, I told him not to do that, but he wouldn't listen. I'd never do anything like that."

I picked up the eraser and held it in one hand while holding up my chin like I was thinking with the other. "Hmm, let me put it this way. My first impression of this group is that you're a bunch of idiots."

Raven waked out from behind me to stand in front of the students. "I'm Raven, I'll be helping Kakashi with you guys." Sasuke stood in the back of the two of them, looking smug. His arms were crossed as he stood and watched the other two, clearly annoyed with their antics.

I motioned to the door. "Follow me."

We all left the room and walked to the roof of the academy. Raven went to lean on the railing and I sat on it next to her. "Sit." I motioned to the steps in front of us. When they all sat down I began. "Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time."

The girl with pink hair was astounded. "Introduce ourselves? What are we supposed to say?"

Raven looked over at her. "Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that."

The blonde haired boy looked intrigued. "Why don't you guys tell us stuff first? I mean, before we talk, tell us about you guys so we can see how it's supposed to work."

I pointed to myself. "Me, I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... I don't feel like telling you that." Pink hair and blonde hair both made a confused sound. "My dreams for the future... never really thought about it. As for my hobbies... I have a lot of hobbies." I pointed at Raven.

Raven smiled a little. "I'm Raven Uchiha, that's all you really need to know about me." They stared dumbfounded. "You probably know me better as Raven Momochi."

I began to speak again before any of them could ask Raven any questions. I knew the first name had sparked something. I could see it in their faces as they looked from Sasuke to Raven. "Okay, your turn. You on the right first."

The blonde-haired boy grabbed his headband. "Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka-Sensei got me at Ichiraku Noodle Shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different types of ramen and comparing them." Raven and I exchanged glances as he spoke. Clearly this kid loved his ramen. "And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage. Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody; somebody important."

I looked to the pink-haired girl. "Alright, next."

"I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like... Uh... I mean, the person I like is..." She glanced over at Sasuke. How cute. "Uh... My hobby is..." She seemed infatuated with Sasuke and Raven was squirming, clearly thinking it adorable. "My dream for the future is..." Her cheeks turned red and she stopped talking, clutching her fists to her face in pleasure.

As this point it seemed like torture, I had to intervene. "And what do you hate?"

Her face got very intense. "Naruto!"

Naruto looked stunned and embarrassed and I kind of felt bad for the kid.

"Last one," Raven looked over at Sasuke and smiled.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and yes, Raven is my sister." Raven smiled at them. "I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. When I have is not a dream, because I WILL make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

The hatred in Sasuke was pulsating. His hate for Itachi was much stronger than I ever thought it could be. Our job was going to be even harder than I thought. Once Sasuke was fully trained and at full power he would be stronger than Raven and I. We both knew he would strive to be stronger than Itachi so he could finish him off once and for all. I knew there would be eventually nothing we could do about it, but Raven wanted him to keep his innocent as long as he could.

I could feel Raven get tense at what Sasuke had just said so I stopped him and spoke. "Good, so you're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto got excited. "What kind of mission are we going to have?"

"It's a task that the five of us will do together."

"What, what, what, what, what?"

"A survival exercise."

"A survival exercise?" Naruto sounded like he was going to cry.

Sakura sounded angry. "I thought we were supposed to have an actual mission, not more practice. We already did this stuff at the academy. That's how we got here."

Raven spoke. "This is nothing like your previous training."

Naruto began to question. "So, uh... what kind of training is it then?"

I laughed. Sakura didn't understand why I was. "That's a normal question, whats so funny?"

I continued to laugh. "Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." They looked confused. "Of the 27 graduates that just came here, only 9 will be accepted as Genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass or fail test. And the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%." They were all in shock. "See, didn't I tell you that you wouldn't like it?"

Naruto spoke up. "That's crazy! We worked hard to get here. Believe it, what was that graduation test for anyway?"

Raven smiled. "That was just a test to select what candidates might become Genin or not. That's how it is?"

I cut her off. "We decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5 A.M. and bring your ninja gear." They were all very tense. "That's all, class dismissed." We all started walking away when Kakashi turned around. "Oh, and you better skip breakfast or you'll puke."

We walked away and Raven turned to me. "Five in the morning? Really?"

I smiled and winked at her. "I have no intentions of being awake that early, let alone being there." I put my hands on her hips and whispered in her ear, checking to make sure the kids weren't looking. "Unless something else is going on." I nibbled on her ear before standing back up straight.


	3. 3: A Ninja Must See Through Deception

*Raven's P.O.V*

The next morning came around and we headed to the training spot. I felt bad for doing that to my brother, but Kakashi felt it was the best way to master some training with them. We popped up in front of them without even announcing ourselves. "Good morning everyone, ready for your training?" Kakashi waved at them.

Sakura and Naruto jumped up and spoke together. "Hey! You're late!"

"Well, a black cat crossed our path so we had to take the long way." They were both fuming. "Well, let's get started." Kakashi put a timer on the log in front of us and looked at all three of them. "It's set for noon." He held up two bells attached to strings. "Your assignment is very simple. You have to take these bells from me. That's all there is too it." He looked over at me. "And since this is Raven's first year training with me, I think one of these will go to her as well."

He handed one of them to me and I tied it around my belt loop of my pants, Kakashi doing the same with his. "If you can't get them from us before noon, you go without lunch. You'll be tied to a post and you'll have to watch us eat lunch in front of you." I gave them an apologetic smile.

Sakura noticed a major detail. "Wait a minute, there's three of us, why are there only two bells?"

Kakashi smiled. "Well that way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing the mission. That one goes back to academy. Then again... all three of you could flunk out too. "

I didn't like what Kakashi was saying, but I knew for us to co-train as a team I had to go with it so I made my own rules. "You can use anything you want, including a shuriken. If you aren't prepared to kill us you'll never take the bells."

Sakura spoke up. "Those weapons are dangerous Sensei."

Naruto pointed to Kakashi and started to laugh. "Especially since you couldn't dodge that eraser."

I had to hold back my laughter again as I saw Kakashi smirk before he spoke. "Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them, lowest scores, losers. When I say start, you can begin." Naruto looked pissed now. Naruto grabbed a kunai knife out of his pants and started running at Kakashi, clearly steamed about the class clown comment. When Naruto got right next to Kakashi, Kakashi grabbed his wrist and spun him around. He held his head with one hand and his hand that had the kunai with the other. The kunai was pointed toward the back of Naruto's head. "Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet."

Naruto fought against Kakashi and Sakura and Sasuke stepped back some. When Kakashi finally let go of Naruto he was fuming again. "But you came at me with full intention of destroying me so... how can I say this? I'm actually starting to like you guys."

I smiled from behind Kakashi. "Get ready..." The three of them got ready to jump away.

Kakashi built up the anticipation before saying anything. "Start!"

The five of us went our separate ways. I always stayed close enough to Kakashi that I could see him, but enough away that I wouldn't have to worry about it the chance of the kids seeing us together. After searching for the kids for a couple minutes we regrouped and began to talk to them, knowing they were all hiding well. Kakashi began to teach and I had flashbacks of us from when we were kids, leaning with our Sensei in this same exercise.

Kakashi had always been the type to take control in any situation and always followed by the book. He was always the one that was willing to teach someone the way something should be done if you weren't doing it right the first time. As kids he was always the one telling me how to do things, we had been in the same squad as kids. Our class in the academy was a big class so our squad was one of the only squads made up of four students instead of three. Rin, Obito, and Kakashi had been my very best friends. On top of that I had never gone past Chunin in my trainings until I reached the Village Hidden in the Mist where I became a Jonin.

Kakashi spoke loudly, assuring they would hear him. "Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively."

We looked around as I spoke softly to Kakashi. "Well, they understand that much. They're hidden well."

Suddenly we both looked up, Naruto stood before us. "Right now, you and me, fair and square. Let's go." Naruto pointed to Kakashi. I jumped into a tree above them, Kakashi could handle the class clown.

"You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit... weird."

"Oh yeah... the only thing weird here is your haircut." Naruto took off at a run for Kakashi. He stopped right before he got to him.

Kakashi talked to him. "Shinobi battle techniques part one. Taijutsu, the physical part." Kakashi reached into his side pocket of his small gear bag and grabbed his book. Naruto looked very confused. "What are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi had always been very cocky, a trait everyone knew him by when we were kids.

"But, why... I mean... Why are you reading that book?" Naruto couldn't spit out what he wanted to say.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course. Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks it really doesn't matter if I'm reading or... whatever." There was that cockiness again.

Naruto ran at him. "I'm going to crush you!" Naruto jumped at him and Kakashi held his hand out, blocking Naruto's punch. While still reading his book, Naruto kicked, and Kakashi bent down. Naruto went to punch him one more time, but when his fist should have connected with Kakashi's face, he was gone.

As Naruto finally figured out what had happened Kakashi was already ready. "Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." I knew what was going to happen next and I cringed. He put his hands together with two fingers on each hand pointing out.

Sakura yelled from somewhere in the distance. "Naruto, get out of there quick. He's going to destroy you."

Before Naruto could react Kakashi made his move. "Too late. Leaf Village secret finger jutsu!" Kakashi jabbed Naruto in the rear end and sent him flying into the sky. "Thousand years of death!" Naruto went flying into the stream that we were standing by. Kakashi picked his book back up. "Okay, where was I?" Suddenly two ninja stars came flying out of the water where Naruto had just landed. Kakashi held out two fingers and caught the stars around them.

Naruto climbed out of the water. "What are you doing now?" Kakashi looked down at him. "You know you wont get lunch if you don't take a bell by noon."

"I know, I know. You told us already."

"You look pretty wobbly for someone that's going to pass the Hokage." I jumped down from my tree and next to Kakashi, putting my arm on top of his shoulder and leaning on him.

"You told us not to eat breakfast. How can I fight when I'm starving to death?" Kakashi started to walk away. "So you caught me off guard, that's all it was, believe it." Naruto stayed on his knees on the ground. "I'm so hungry that somehow I don't have any strength left. I can't let that stop me. I've got to get those bells no matter what. I've got to get those bells no matter what. I'll find the strength somehow. I'm going to pass this test and I'm not going back to the academy. I will become a ninja." The water behind Naruto started to swirl and then suddenly six other Naruto's came flying out. Kakashi turned around. "You're overconfident Sensei. That's why you weren't ready for a shadow clone attack, my best jutsu."

Kakashi looked from the clones to me. "Looks like the rumors are true. He CAN made shadow clones." My mouth began to hang open and Kakashi reached over and shut it for me. "It's a forbidden skill and he defeated Mizuki with is." Kakashi looked at Naruto. "Great technique, I don't think you can maintain it very long." They all started to run at us. "You talk like you're the best Naruto, but you're still the worst student."

I looked over at Kakashi, trying to seem calm, knowing that Sasuke and Sakura were somewhere looking on as I talked to him in almost a whisper."Time to get out of the way, stop working him up."

"You can't beat me with this jutsu." Suddenly I saw the bell on Kakashi's belt loop jingle and a clone popped up on his back. "What? He got me from behind?"

I jumped backwards as fast as I could, jumping into a nearby tree again, I wanted to help Kakashi so bad, but to Jonin against a Genin wasn't fair at all.

Naruto taunted Kakashi. "Didn't you say don't let your enemies get behind you? Good advice Sensei, believe it." All the other clones jumped on his legs and the real Naruto jumped in the air toward him. "I had one of my clones come up out of the river and then sneak up behind you super quiet."As he fell toward Kakashi, he was ready to get his revenge. "And this is for getting me in the butt earlier! You're mine and so is that bell."

As Naruto went to hit Kakashi once again, he was gone. Naruto hit his own clone, making him hit the ground. "It's you, you're Kakashi-Sensei, aren't you? You transformed into me using a jutsu, didn't you?" All the clones began to hit each other until all that was left was the real Naruto. He had undone his jutsu to figure out which was the clone, Kakashi had gotten him with the replacement jutsu.

Kakashi jumped into the tree next to me during all of this. "Hey baby."

I slapped his arm. "I thought you had really been caught by him. I was going to make fun of you for it all day." Kakashi began to laugh. I looked at his belt and realized that he didn't have his bell. "Kakashi, where's your bell?"

He pointed to the ground. "Watch this." Naruto had spotted the bell on the ground and was on his way to pick it up. His feet were lifted from underneath him and he was left hanging in a tree by a rope. Kakashi and I began to laugh. We jumped down and he grabbed his bell. "Think before you use a jutsu or else your opponent might use it against you." He grasped the bell in his hands and smiled. "Oh, and if the bait is obvious, don't take it." Naruto started to steam. If it could have come out of his ears it would have.

I looked at Naruto. "A ninja must see through deception."

"I get it!" Naruto was flailing around. "Why am I listening to you anyway? You're not even a leaf ninja, you're a mist ninja." He pointed at my headband.

"I might be from a different village, but this is where I live now and the Hokage asked me here personally." I glared at him. "I'm telling you this because you don't get it! You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it... get it.?" As Kakashi watched me shuriken came flying from the tree line and right into him. Kakashi hit the ground. I stepped in front of him. "The next one is mine." I didn't know who it was, but I was hoping I did.

Naruto confirmed my suspicion and I readied myself. "He just blasted him with shuriken. Are you out of your mind Sasuke? That was too far."

As what was Kakashi hit the ground the kids saw that it was a log. Kakashi and I jumped into a tree and we began looking for him.

"Are you sure you want this battle? It's your brother." Kakashi looked over at me as we ran through the trees.

"I want to see what he's made of."

I could hear Sakura talking in the bushes, clearly trying to be quiet. "Sakura, turn around." She turned around to look at me, screaming.

Kakashi blew the bushes away from around her, leaving her in the open. We had both disappeared, leaving her by herself. I transformed into a version of my brother, something easy to do since we share the same bloodline. I laid on my knees on the ground with shuriken in my back. "Sakura, Sakura, please help me." Sakura stopped and looked at me, screamed, and fainted. I transformed back into myself and jumped back into the tree branch next to Kakashi. "I think I might have overdone that a bit..."

"She's got to learn to see through these things." Kakashi flipped to the next page in his book in his hand.

"Let's go find my brother." I knew that he was around and he had seen it so I began to talk. "Shinobi battle technique number two, the illusion jutsu. Sakura studied it in class, but she still couldn't see it coming."

We jumped down behind Sasuke, not making a sound so he wouldn't know we were there. "I'm not like Sakura and Naruto."

"Say that when you have one of these bells little brother." Sasuke turned around to face me, determination showing in his eyes. Sasuke grabbed more shuriken and threw them at me. With one swift move I jumped to the side, dodging them all. "There's no point in using normal attacks." I hit the ground and started to slide across the dirt. I saw him throw another shutdown and before I could stop, I hit a rope laying across the ground. "A trap." More shuriken launched at me and I jumped away from the tree just in time, all of them imbedding in the trunk.

Suddenly Sasuke was behind me. He swung a kick at me which I barely blocked by putting my arm up. I grabbed his ankle and he swung a fist at me. I used my free hand to grab it. His other foot came barreling at my head and I let go of his fist to grab his other leg. He reached for my bell on my waist since my hands were busy holding his legs. I let go of his legs and jumped backwards as fast as I could. He's fast, no denying he had the Uchiha speed. Sasuke landed across from me. He started with hand signals, something I knew wasn't good. Our clan had the fire jutsu running through our veins. I prepared myself as I noticed what he was signing. I had to think of something quick. Genin aren't supposed to be able to do the fireball jutsu, it should take up too much chakra, it even drained me if I didn't use it properly.

When fire came flying at me I knew I was wrong. I barreled myself into the ground and when I knew Sasuke was squirming from trying to find where I was I grabbed his ankle from under the ground. "Where?" Sasuke's face turned to terror. "I'm where you least expect me." I dragged Sasuke down and left him in the dirt up to his head. "Right under your feet." I bent down and smiled at him. Kakashi jumped down from the tree next to me.

"Earth style, headhunter jutsu. Cant move, huh? I taught your sister that one." He smiled at me. "That was ninjutsu, the third shinobi battle skill. You have talent, and you're right, you are different from the others, but different isn't always better."

I stood up. "They say the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down Sasuke." He glared at me. "Sorry little brother, maybe next time."

When Kakashi walked away I bent down again. "I'll get you out Sasuke, but this is exactly why I don't want you getting it stuck in your head that you're ready to face Itachi. You couldn't even take me on and think about how much stronger than me Itachi's always been. You're not ready." Sasuke said nothing to me. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's for your own good. I don't want him to hurt you... not again."

Kakashi came back. "Come with me." He jumped back into the trees.

I punched the ground in front of Sasuke to loosen it for him and then took off after Kakashi before he could get himself out. When Kakashi stopped he pointed down. On the memorial where we left the two lunches for the two kids that passed sat Naruto. Hadn't we just told him not to fall for setups like this? Kakashi jumped down on top of the memorial. "Hey there."

I jumped down to the left of Naruto and smiled at him. Naruto screamed and looked straight ahead, not wanting to look at either of us. "I was just joking Sensei."

"Nice try." I grabbed Naruto and we pushed him against a post. Kakashi wrapped a rope around him and once it was secured we heard the timer go off. None of the kids had gotten a bell. I was a little disappointed. I was only helping train them, when it came to whether or not they were to keep training it was all on Kakashi. I hoped he would go easy on them.

Sakura and Sasuke came out of the woods and back to the meeting spot, sitting down in front of Naruto on the post. We could hear their stomach's growling. Kakashi taunted them. "Uh-oh, stomach's growling, huh? That's too bad." The food set in containers was now sitting in front of all of them. "Oh, by the way, about this exercise... I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy." They all seemed excited at those words and even began to smile.

Naruto started to kick his feet. "That means all three of us? All three of us!?"

Kakashi smiled. "Yes. All three of you are being dropped from the program... permanently." They all stopped and their faces dropped.

I couldn't help myself. "Kakashi!"

Naruto began to speak. "Drop us from the program? That means we'll never become ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells we'd be sent back the academy. You can't just change your mind and kick us out, why would you do that?"

"He's right Kakashi, that's not fair."

Kakashi turned to me. "I make the decisions. Just because your brother is one of them doesn't mean I give him special treatment."

"That's not what I'm saying. You saw them, they showed promise." I tried to plead with him, not just for my brothers sake, but for all of them.

"Enough Raven."

I glared at him. What was going on with him? I had never seen him like this, usually he always took what I said into account.

"It's because you don't think like ninja, you think like little kids... like brats."

Before I could stop him, I saw Sasuke stand up and run at Kakashi. Kakashi grabbed him and sat on him, holding his arms back. I was beginning to get angry. "Kakashi, get off him! Leave him alone !"

Kakashi didn't even look at me. "You think it's all about you."

Sasuke was squirming underneath him. Sakura spoke up. "Get off Sasuke, you cant step on him like he's some bug!"

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja." I could feel my anger welling up inside of me as he spoke. My brother was squirming underneath Kakashi and there was nothing I could do. "You think it's a game, huh? Why do you think we put you in squads? Did you consider that for one moment?"

Sakura calmed down a little. "I don't know what you mean."

"I mean you never realized what this exercise was all about, not even close."

Naruto was in shock. "What it's about?"

"Yes. That's what determines whether you pass or fail."

Sakura hung her head. "But that's... that's what I wanted to ask you about from the beginning."

"Use your head. Three people in a squad. Why do you think we do that?"

"How are we supposed to know why you picked three people. We didn't make the rules?" Naruto squirmed more.

"It's so basic... teamwork."

They all looked dumbfounded, especially Sakura. "Just working together? Is that what you mean?"

"That's what I mean. It's too late now, but if all three of you had come at us." Kakashi looked back at me. "You might have been able to take them. Well, anyway, it's over."

"You set it up with three people and two bells. If we worked together and got the bells only two of us could keep them and that would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up."

"Exactly. I purposefully pit you against each other. I wanted to see if you would overcome that and put the squad above yourselves. A Genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But you, it never even crossed your mind." He looked at each of them. "Sakura, you obsessed about Sasuke the whole time when Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't lift a finger to help him."

He looked at Naruto. "Naruto, you do everything on your own. Everything."

He pushed Sasuke's head farther into the ground, enticing my anger once again. "And you Sasuke. You thought everybody else was so far beneath you they were worthless. Arrogance. Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills, but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad this can lead to failure and death."

Kakashi reaches into his bag for a kunai. "For example." He put the kunai to Sasuke's throat. "Sakura, kill Naruto now, or Sasuke dies." Naruto let looking between Sakura and Kakashi.

I had had just about enough. I jumped up in the air and toward Kakashi, he anticipated my moves and threw me to the side. I hit the tree behind me with a force so hard I could feel it vibrate through my teeth. I knelt down and stared at him.

I saw Sasuke squirm under Kakashi, staring intently toward me. "That's what happens on a mission. An enemy takes a hostage and you're faced with an impossible choice and someone ends up dead." Kakashi got off Sasuke and walked over to me, holding his hand out to help me up. "On every mission your life's in the line," I took his hand and stood, leaning on him some. "Did you look at this stone and all the names on it? They are all ninja that are honored as heroes in our village."

Naruto spoke up. "That's it , that's it, that's it. Now I know. I've decided I'm going to have my name engraved on that stone. I'm not going to live and die for nothing like a dog. I'm going to be a hero."

"They're special kind of heroes."

"What kind of heroes are they? Come on, tell us."

"They're KIA."

"That sounds really cool." Naruto was more excited than he should be.

Sakura looked over at him. "It means killed in action. They all died."

Naruto's face dropped as Kakashi spoke. "This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are engraved on here." I knew exactly who he meant. Kakashi turned to face them. "Alright, I'm going to give you guys one more chance." He turned to me. "But we're going to make it much harder on you."

I looked at him and nodded. "You have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch and build up strength, but Naruto doesn't get any." Naruto growled at me. "It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat it yourself."

Kakashi continued. "If anybody tries to feed him that person will immediately fail." He looked at each one of them. "I make the rules, you follow them. Get it?"

Kakashi and I sat in a tree on the edge and watched them, making sure they understood what he had said. What we saw made us proud. Sakura and Sasuke both gave Naruto some of their meals. We had to make it seem like it was a big deal. Kakashi blew the dirt up around them, coming out from it as he yelled. "YOU!"

Sakura and Naruto began to scream and Sasuke stood his ground, ready for anything. When the dust cleared I jumped down next to Kakashi. "You broke the rules. I hope you're ready for your punishment." Kakashi began to make hand signs using his lightening strikes to turn the sky black and make thunder and lightening crack and flash. "Any last words?"

I began to make hands signs as well, getting my fire ready in my hands. They each cowered except Sasuke. Naruto began to talk. "But you said..."

Kakashi looked at him with piercing eyes. "Yes?"

Naruto started to yell. "You said that there were three of us, that's what you said and that's why Sakura and..." He trailed off.

Sasuke picked up where he left off and I could never be more proud of him. He had always been a selfish one. "We're all on this squad and we're all in this together."

Sakura got brave. "Yea. That's right. We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one."

Naruto squirmed in his ropes. "Yea, yea, yea. Believe it. That's right."

"The three of you are one, that's your excuse?" We walked toward them and my flames grew higher. They all stared back, expecting a fight. Kakashi smiled. "You pass." They all looked puzzled. He said it slower. "You. Pass."

Sakura stared at us. "What do you mean we pass? How'd we pass?"

Kakashi and I stopped our jutsu and he explained. "You're the first squad that ever succeeded. The rest just did what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves."

I stepped forward and wrapped my arm around Sasuke. "A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum. That's true, but... those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Naruto looked like he would cry.

Kakashi gave them a thumbs up. "The exercise is over, you all passed. Squad seven starts its first mission tomorrow."

I put my hands in Sasuke's hair and ruffled it like I used to when we were kids. He looked up at me and smiled. "Let's go home." As we walked I kept my eyes on Sasuke. "I'm proud of you little brother.


	4. 4: The Land of Waves

***Kakashi's P.O.V***

As the kids ran through the woods their mission was clear and they knew what they were doing. They all answered Raven and I when they heard us through their earpieces.

Sasuke's voice was heard first. "This is Sasuke, I'm at point B."

Sakura spoke next. "It's Sakura, I've made it to point C."

And finally Naruto. "Naruto, I'm at point A. Believe it."

I scolded Naruto through the headset. "You're slow Naruto."

Raven cut me off. "Okay, squad 7. The target is moving, follow it."

The kids all surrounded a bush. I watched them closely. "What's your distance from the target?"

Naruto was first to answer. "Five meters. I'm ready, just give the signal."

Sasuke agreed. "I'm ready too."

Sakura was quick to follow. "So am I."

"Okay, now!" The kids all jumped at the bush, catching a small brown cat. Naruto had it in his grasp. I spoke to Sasuke. "Can you verify the ribbon on the right ear?"

"Affirmative, we've got a positive ID."

Raven sounded excited as she grabbed my arm. "Right, lost pet, Tora, captured. Mission accomplished."

Naruto was never happy with the missions I picked out for the squad. "Can't we get a better mission than this! I hate cats!"

When we got back with the cat I would say that the owner was happy to see her. The cat was squashed up against her as much as it could be without hurting or killing it. It clearly didn't want the attention as it screamed against her.

The three of us stood before her and Naruto came out with one of his dumb comments like always. "Dumb cat." He laughed "He deserves to get squashed."

Sakura stared at her in horror. "No wonder he ran away."

We all stood before the Hokage to get our next mission. He spoke to us. "Now then, for squad 7's next mission we have several available tasks. Among them, babysitting the chief counselor's three year old, helping his wife do the shopping, digging up potatoes, and-"

Naruto interrupted him. "NO! I want a real mission. Something challenging an exciting, not this little kid stuff! Come on old man!"

I was dumbfounded by what he had just said, not that it should have surprised me. Nothing Naruto does anymore surprises me.

Raven looked over at him. Naruto, enough."

Iruka stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "How dare you?! You're just a new Genin with no experience, like everything else you start with simple missions to work on your skills and prove yourself!"

Something was bothering him today. Naruto began again. "Are you serious? Babysitting it not a mission, it's just a stupid..."

I stopped him by punching him in the head, making him fall to the ground. I was never going to hear the end of this later. "Will you put a lid on it?"

The Hokage spoke next. "Naruto, it seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given." Naruto stopped rubbing his head and bellyaching to look up at the Hokage. "Listen, many kinds of tasks come into our village every day. From babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded and analyzed." He pointed to the scrolls in front of him. "Then they are ranked A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by ability. Hokage at the top, Jonin, Chunin, and Genin at the bottom. At the highest level we pick missions and assign them to ninja with the proper experience. If the mission is successful we receive a fee that supports our village and our work. Since you are untried Genin, just starting down the Shinobi path; you are given D level assignments of course."

We all zoned out about halfway through this little speech and began our own conversation, regretting it not long after. "Silence!" The Hokage was pissed now.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Oh... sorry."

Raven smiled an apologetic smile at him.

Naruto made another wisecrack of the day. "You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something. But, I'm not that little brat that used to pull pranks all the time. I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission."

Raven glared at Naruto and then looked back at me. "We're going to hear about this later."

I rubbed my head again nervously. "Yea, we are."

The Hokage chuckled. "Naruto wanted us to know that he's not a brat, just a former brat, and he wants a mission. So be it." We all looked up at him. "Since you are determined I'm going to give you a C ranked mission. "You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

Naruto turned around to face him. "Really? Yes!" He jumped up. "Who, who? Are we guarding a princess, or some big wig counselor?"

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now." He looked to his right. "Send in our visitor."

A bigger man in a sun hat who was clearly intoxicated came out. "What the? A bunch of little snot nosed kids?" He took another swig from his bottle. "And you, the little one, with the idiotic look on your face. You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Naruto laughed and looked at both Sasuke and Sakura. "Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his..." He then realized that he was the smallest of the three.

Naruto tried to run at him and I grabbed the back of his jacket. "You can't demolish the client Naruto. It doesn't work that way."

He took another swig. "I am Tazuna and I'm a master bridge builder. I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

As we reached the gates Naruto was the first one out. "Yea! Alright!"

Sakura was clearly annoyed. "What are you getting so excited about Naruto?"

"This is the first time I've ever left the village. I'm a traveler now, believe it."

Tazuna was not amused. He looked right at me. "Am I supposed to trust my life with this runt? He's a joke."

I laughed. "He's with me and I'm a Jonin, along with Raven here, who's also a Jonin from a different village. No need to worry."

Naruto turned around and pointed at Tazuna. "Hey, never insult a ninja, it's a big mistake. And I'm one of the greatest ninja ever. Someday I'm going to be a Hokage and you'll look up to me. My names Naruto Uzumaki. Remember it!"

Tazuna took a drink. "Hokages are powerful and wise, you are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly."

"Shut up! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage no matter what it takes. And when I do everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja, including you!"

"You can become Hokage ten times over and to me you'll still be a nobody, a loser."

"I'm going to make you pay for that right now."

Naruto jumped at him and both Raven and I grabbed his backpack. I was getting annoyed with this already. "I told you you're supposed to protect the client, not attack him."

Raven looked over at me as Tazuna began to walk. "Well he is kind of being an ass."

I made an agreeing noise so that I didn't encourage Naruto.

As we walked Sakura tried to make conversation. "Hey, Mr. Tazuna, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"Your land is the Land of Waves right?"

"Yea. What of it?"

She looked at me. "Kakashi-sensei, there are ninjas in that land too, aren't there?"

I looked over, happy to teach them something. "No, there are no ninja in the Land of Waves, but in other countries there are hidden village, each with their own different customs and cultures where ninja reside."

"To the people of this continent the existence of Shinobi villages means strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of power with neighboring countries. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government. They're independent and have equal status.

"Now a small island like the land of waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that possess Shinobi villages are the Lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories. Together they are known as the five great Shinobi nations."

"The Land of Fire had the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Land of Lightning has the Village Hidden in the Clouds. The Land of Wind has the Village Hidden in the Sand. The Land of Earth has the Village Hidden in the Stones."

Raven cut me off. "The Land of Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist. That's where I came from after my clan was wiped out. That's where I became a Jonin."

I started again. "Only the leaders from these villages are permitted the names Kage, which means shadow. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage. These are the leaders, the five shadows that rein over thousands of ninjas."

Sakura got excited. "Then Lord Hokage is really important!"

They all stared straight ahead of themselves and I spoke up. "Hey! You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you." They all looked nervous. "That's what you were thinking." Sakura and Naruto shook their heads. I put my hand on Sakura's head. "Well, anyway, there are no ninja battles in a C ranked mission, so, you can relax."

Sakura spoke up. "And we're not going to run into any foreign ninja of anything like that?"

I laughed. "Not likely."

As we got farther and farther the group got quieter and quieter. Nobody knew what to say anymore. Raven and I walked at the back of the group. Every so often I would take her hand when no one was looking, holding it for a couple of minutes. I noticed something as we walked. I slowed Raven down and looked. There was a puddle in the middle of the dirt and it hadn't rained in a long while. We both slowly started to walk again. Suddenly a noise come up from behind us. I was the first to turn around. There were two ninja coming toward me with chains. "What?" The chains wrapped around me and I felt myself get squeezed. As soon as I was able to I used my substitution jutsu and jumped into a tree. Let's see what these kids can do.

I probably should have told Raven my plan before we started, but maybe her panic being real will kick the kids into gear. Raven looked around as fast as she could. "Kakashi!" Her face was full of fear. She never fought alone since the attack. I knew she could do this without me, she didn't need me as much as she thought she did.

She had not fought without someone of been in a situation where she needed too since the night that Itachi attacked her family. I could see her panic setting in more as she looked around for Sasuke. The two ninja were behind Naruto.

They spoke to him, trying to get them riled up. "Now it's your turn."

Naruto turned around. They got their chains ready to whip and lunged at him. Naruto froze and from out of nowhere the Uchiha siblings got to work. Raven hollered to Sakura. "Protect Tazuna Sakura." Sakura jumped in front of him and stretched her arms out. Sasuke and Raven jumped into the air. Raven took out a ninja star and caught the end of both of their chains, spiking them into a tree. Sasuke came right up behind her with a kunai, putting it through the center of the ninja star to keep them in place. I hadn't seen better teamwork in a long time.

With Sasuke around Raven seemed almost calm while she fought. Both ninja tried to pull their chains out. Sasuke landed on both their arms and kicked them both in the face, causing them to both fall backwards, yanking their chains right out of their ninjas ran and as Sasuke and Raven thought they knew where they were going they split ways. Raven let Sasuke stay the course he was on since it was easier for her to change ways with her experience. One of them was headed right for Sakura and Tazuna. Sasuke jumped in front of them. The other was headed for Naruto again. Raven jumped down in front of Naruto.

As the ninja hit the ground in front of Raven I saw the rage that I had seen in her the day that she had left the village to find Itachi. I knew she was going to become unfocused. It was time for me to intervene. Before I could intervene Raven lunged at the ninja, she wasn't thinking. As she lunged the ninja grabbed her arm and flung her against a tree on the other side of him, the opposite of where Naruto was. She hit hard and collapsed on the ground.

I jumped down from the tree I was in and lunged, grabbing the two ninja by the necks, standing in front of everybody. They all stared at me. "Hi." Sasuke didn't look impressed. "Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that." I walked over to Sasuke. "Good job Sasuke, very smooth." I looked over at Sakura. "You too, Sakura."

I began to talk before I turned around. "And you, Raven, I'm glad that you're now-" Raven was still laying on the ground by the tree. I hadn't noticed that she hadn't gotten up. That wasn't like her. I began to worry a little. "Raven?"

Sasuke looked over to where she was. "Raven?" He pushed me out of the way and ran over to her. He dropped next to her, panic filled his voice. "Raven, are you okay?" She didn't respond to him. She must have been knocked unconscious by the hit.

I tied the two ninja up before I ran over to her. "Move Sasuke, she's just knocked out." I took the water bottle that I had attached to my side and splashed water on her face.

With a jolt Raven sat up, she winced in pain and grabbed her side. "Crap, my rib." She tried to stand up, but wobbled and fell back down.

I slowed her down. "Hang on, relax a second. You were unconscious."

Sasuke dropped next to Raven and she reached out for him. You could read the terror on his face like a book. Since they had found each other Raven was his weakness and he along with myself was hers. She pulled him in and reassured him. "I'm fine Sasuke, it's just a rib. I've had worse... trust me."

He smiled and we both helped her stand up. When he was calmed down he looked over at Naruto, ready to taunt him. "Hey,"

Naruto looked up. "Yea?"

"You're not hurt are you?" Sarcasm was all over his face. "Scaredy cat."

Naruto went to step forward at Sasuke and I stopped him, noticing his hand. "Naruto, stand still. these ninja have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you quickly. You have to open the wound and remove it." Naruto looked panicked now. I know he was scared, but it was the only thing to save him. "It's in your blood so don't move around, that spreads the poison." I redirected my voice. "By the way, Mr. Tazuna."

He seemed shocked that I was talking to him. "Yea, what?"

"We need to talk." We all stood around the ninja. "They're Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attack. They'll keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."

One of the ninja spoke up. "How did you know about our ambush?"

"A puddle on a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks?"

Tazuna sounded angry. "In that case, why did you leave it to the Genin and the panicky Jonin to do the fighting?"

Raven glared at him and the ninja on the tree spoke, taunting her. "Raven, he would be so ashamed to know that the one he trained turned out to be such a wimp. He'd be so disappointed." Raven turned around and glared at the ninja who chuckled. Who were they talking about?

Raven lunched at them a little and I grabbed her arm. "Shut up you disgraces. My 13 year old brother just whipped your asses."

I spoke back to Tazuna, ignoring what had just happened. "I could have taken them out quickly, but then I'd have learned nothing. I needed the kids to see how real the situation was too, that's why I didn't say anything to Raven." she turned her glare from the ninja to me. "I had to know who their target was and what they were after."

"What are you getting at?"

"I wanted to know whether they were after us; ninja attacking ninja, or if they were after you; the master bridge builder. When you put in your request you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down."

Raven saw where I was going so she joined in. "If we had known it would have been a B ranked mission or higher. Our task was simply to get your to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we were wielding attacks from enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B ranked mission." I stopped Raven, seeing how angry she was getting.

"Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission." I tried to make myself sound like an authority figure.

Sakura tried to sound apologetic. "We're Genin, this mission is too advanced for our training. We should go back. And I really think we should get Naruto back and treat his wound and get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in our village we can take him to a doctor."

"Naruto's hand could become a problem. I guess we should go back to the village."

Naruto wasn't having this at all. He took his kunai and stabbed it into his hand, opening the wound. "Why am I so different? Why am I always..." He turned away from us.

Sakura ran toward him. "Naruto! Stop that! What are you doing?"

"I worked so hard to get here. Pushing myself until it hurt. Training alone for hours. Anything to get stronger, to reach my dream. I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away. I will not lose to Sasuke." At the sound of her brother's name being mentioned Raven smiled a little. "Upon this wound I make this pledge. Believe it. Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife." He turned back toward us with the knife still in his hand. "Don't worry. Ill be fine." He had a determined look on his face.

I was getting concerned. "Naruto, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all, but if you lose anymore blood... you're going to die."

Naruto began to panic. Raven walked forward. "Give me your hand, it's a good idea to stop the bleeding now. Seriously.""

Naruto began to panic even more. "NO, no, no. I'm too young to let it all end like this."

I tried to snap him out of it. "Naruto, show Raven your hand."

Naruto ran over to Raven, still panicking. "Help, help, help."

Sakura was angry. "Naruto, you've got a self-abusive personality. It's called masochism."

Raven took his hand and stared. When she wasn't moved while she looked at it, I looked over. "Kakashi."She motioned for me to come over.

I walked over and we both stared at it. Naruto noticed that we weren't doing anything and got worried. "Uhm, you guys have a really serious look on your faces. Am I okay?"

I grabbed some bandages from my bag and handed them to Raven. She tried to calm down Naruto while she worked. She wrapped them around his hand. "Yea, you should be fine."

He sighed in relief and looked over at me before thanking Raven and walking away.

As we got farther down the path everyone seemed to calm down from the event before. Raven and I hung back, talking about what had just happened, careful that no one could hear us. She spoke first. "What would make the mist ninja come after him?"

"Maybe he owes them something, that's the only thing that I can think of. Nothing else really explains it. What did they mean when they said that 'he' would be disappointed in you? Who are they talking about?"

"That's a long story that I can't explain right now. It has something to do with when I was in the Village Hidden in the Mist." She stopped and gave me a small, weak smile before continuing. "What made Naruto heal that fast Kashi?" Raven only ever called me by my pet name when no one was around.

"I can't explain that now either. I'll tell you tonight when everyone's asleep as long as you tell me what the mist ninja meant."

She gave me a look of worry before agreeing

Tazuna had finally led us to the edge of the water, heading to where his bridge was going to be. We hopped onto a boat and settled in. I sat on the farthest end with Raven next to me. The boat was crammed so me having my arm around her shoulders didn't seem like a big deal. It was something we could get away with this time.

There was fog all around us. It was the protection for this small village. Sakura was scared. "The fog is so thick, you can't see anything.

The person steering the boat spoke in a whisper. "The bridge isn't far now. Our destination is just ahead. The Land of Waves."

We all looked forward, not able to see anything through the fog. When Naruto was finally able to see something he hollered. "Woah, it's huge!"

The driver got angry with him. "Quiet! I told you no noise." He was whisper yelling back at him. "Why do you think we're traveling like this, huh? Cutting the engine and rowing, moving through the dense fog. It's so they don't see us."

Naruto covered his mouth and seemed apologetic.

I looked over at the bridge builder. "Mr. Tazuna, before we reach the pier I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

Tazuna was annoyed. "I have no choice but to tell you. No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a long and deadly shadow."

Raven looked up. "A deadly shadow? Who is it?"

"You know him, at least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnate, Gato."

I had heard that name before. "Gato? Of Gato transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him." I was in shock.

"Gato. He's a very famous tycoon from a company that's true, but below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to get businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband. He uses gangs and ninja. It was one year ago when Gato first set his sight on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to take control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared. In an island nation a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very lives, but there's one thing he fears. The bridge, when it's complete, will join us to the land and that will break his control. I am the bridge builder."

Sakura was putting the pieces together. "So that's it? Since you're the bridge builder you're getting in this gangster's way?"

Sasuke looked over at Raven and I. "That means those guys in the woods, they're working for Gato."

Raven looked over at him again. "I don't understand, if you knew that he was dangerous, knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the Land of Waves is a small, impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money. They common people that are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore there will be no bridge. They assassinate me before I reach home. Don't feel bad about that, of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset. He'd cry 'Grandad, I want my Grandad' and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Hidden Lead, denouncing and blaming your for abandoning her and father and living her life in sorrow." Of course he would bring up kids and grandkids. Anything to sucker us in. "Oh well. It's not your fault, forget it."

I rubbed my forehead through my headband and looked down at Raven, who had sunken down in the boat further. "Well, I guess we have no choice. We'll have to keep guarding you." Raven looked up at me and then held her arm out to Sasuke, who leaned over on her, sighing.

"I'm very grateful." Tazuna smiled.

Raven grabbed at her side and winced a little. I looked over at her. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'm not leaving you guys, I'll be fine." She sat back up and winced some more. She was in a great deal of pain, she had to have been to show it. "It's an old injury, it's just been hit again."

I knew what she had meant by 'old injury'. It was something that had happened while she was saving Sasuke from Itachi, but she would never let him know this.

The driver spoke. "We're approaching the shore, Tazuna." He looked down. "We've been fortunate, no one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going." Tazuna appeased him.

The Land of Waves came into sight as we went through a small tunnel. When we reached the pier we all climbed out of the boat. We thanked the driver who wished us luck and drove back off. Tazuna turned to us. "Take me to my home and by that I mean get me there in one piece."

Raven and I hung back some again so we could talk as everyone else sped up ahead. I looked over at her and I knew she could hear the concern in my voice. "The next ninja they send wont be Chunin, they'll be Jonin, like us."

"These guys aren't ready to fight a Jonin, Kakashi. They don't have the skills. They could barely take on us at subpar." She was starting to get her panicked voice back.

"Keep yourself calm of the kids will notice Raven." I put my hand on her back since no one was looking.

Seeming to relax, she looked back up at me. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about who they're going to send. They've got some pretty tought Jonin in the Mist Village. I can think of one in particular." She had knew this personally.


	5. 5: The Demon Of The Hidden Mist

***Raven's P.O.V***

As we walked Naruto and Sasuke fought to see who could walk the fastest. Naruto had been trying to prove himself to us since we left the pier. He didn't want to think that he was weaker than Sasuke after what had happened with the Chunin earlier.

Naruto stopped and suddenly started looking around. "Over there!" He pointed to a bush and threw a kunai into it.

We all and stared in shock, wondering what he could have seen and then we grew angry. Kakashi began to scold him. "Naruto, those are kunai knives. Those are dangerous."

Tazuna was angry at this point. He began to shout. "Stop trying to scare us you stumpy little dwarf!"

Naruto ignored us and continued to scan the bushes. "There's something over there!" He turned one way and then back the other. "No, they're over there." He took another kunai out of his pants and threw it into another bush.

Kakashi and I looked over at him and then to the bush. Naruto always found a way to cause trouble or freak someone else. Sakura ran up to Naruto and punched him in the back of the head. "Quit it Naruto."

"Why'd you so that? Someone really is following us, I mean it."

"Yea right. Quit lying and acting like a dumb kid."

As the two of them fought, Kakashi and I walked away from them and into the bushes. There was a rabbit lying in front of the tree that the kunai had hit and he looked stunned.

Sakura ran over to us and looked at the rabbit. "Naruto, look what you did!"

Naruto looked freaked out as he stared at the rabbit. "A rabbit!" He ran over to it and picked it up, cuddling it and apologizing to it.

Kakashi and I walked back the other way and looked around. Something was wrong. Kakashi leaned over and whispered to me. "That's a snow rabbit. They only have white fur during the winter."

I looked up at him. "That rabbit was raised indoors then, away from the sunlight. Do you think someone is using it as bait?"

"The Jonin is already here, they have to be." Kakashi scanned the tree line, being careful not to give the Mist ninja the idea that we knew they were here. Suddenly Kakashi perked up a little. "He's attacking."

I stopped in my tracks and turned to Tazuna and the kids. "Look out!" A giant sword came flying from the tree line and we all hit the deck, it just barely missing us. It stuck into a tree a little ways away and the Jonin from the Mist Village jumped down on it. As I noticed who the person standing in front of me was, I froze.

_**5 years ago**_

_I walked through the tree line of a village. I wasn't sure where I was, all I knew was that I needed to find him. Itachi needed to be help accountable for what he had just done. I kept seeing it in my head. Mother and father lying on the ground, covered in their own blood. Sasuke, as scared as I had ever seen him, crying and pleading with Itachi not to hurt him._

_Before I knew it, I had wandered through the gates. I knew that I still had blood on my clothes. I was a sight for sore eyes. A rugged man carrying a giant sword on his back walked over to me. He was wearing a headband, he was a ninja of some kind. I could barely focus in on what was going on around me so when he reached out and stopped me I jumped into action. _

_I whipped my arms up and slammed them into his, breaking his hold. "Back up." I put my hand together, ready to us my fire jutsu if necessary. When I finally focused I saw what was on his headband. I had somehow wandered into the village hidden in the mist. _

_The man held his hand up in front of him, showing me that he wasn't going to hurt me. "I won't hurt you, I want to help you. What's your name?"_

_I hesitated. Should I really tell him who I was? Would that make Itachi find me? I did need to find him after all. "Raven."_

_He put his hands down a little. "Just Raven?"_

_I started to put my hand down to stop my justu. I was feeling calmer that I had before. "Tell me your name first, then I tell you my last name."_

_He smiled a little. "Zabuza Momochi."_

_I had heard that name before. My father had told me a story about a boy with that name. Was this the same one? Either way, I was always true to my word. "Uchiha, I'm Raven Uchiha."_

**Present Day**

Kakashi stared at him, anger all over his face. He looked over at me and he could see the shock. "Raven." He put some edge in his voice to try and snap me out of it. "We need to protect the kids, snap out of it. I know who this is."

We all stood still. Kakashi began to talk to him. "Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

When he said which village Sasuke looked over at me. I tried to look like I didn't know him, but I think he read it all over my face. When had Zabuza become a rogue ninja?

Suddenly Naruto started to run forward. Kakashi and I both threw a hand out to stop him. Kakashi tried to sound serious, his voice had a little growl to it. "You're in the way, get back."

"But why?"

"He's not like those other ninja. He's in a whole other league. If he's our opponent, I'll need this." Kakashi started to move his headband off his eye that held his Sharingan. He looked over at me. "You might want your too, Raven. This could be treacherous."

I was still frozen where I stood. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He wasn't in his uniform like I had seen him in every day when we were in the village together. Now he was just in a pair of light blue pants, a couple of sleeves around the bottom part of his arms, and his headband. It was odd.

Zabuza looked behind him. "Kakashi of the Sharingan eye. Did I get that right?" He looked from Kakashi to me. "Long time no see baby girl." I saw Sasuke tense when he realized he was referring to me. "How have you been Raven?"

Sasuke started to move forward and I threw my arms out and grabbed him. "Sasuke, no, stay back." I turned him around and tossed him backwards.

Kakashi took control. "Quick, manji formation, protect the bridge builder. Stay out of this fight. We taught you teamwork,now it's time to use it." Finally Kakashi pulled his headband completely off his eye, exposing his Sharingan. I closed my eyes and balanced my chakra, ready to bring mine out.

I could feel the power building in my body so I began to focus it on my Sharingan. When I opened my eyes I could feel the power radiating through my body and from the shock on the kids faces I could tell that my eyes had changed and so did Kakashi's one.

Zabuza taunted. "Looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action."

Naruto butted in. "Everyone keeps saying Sharingan. Can someone please tell me what the Sharingan is?"

Sasuke began to explain. "Sharingan is a rare power, it resides in the eyes. The use of this visual jutsu or dojutsu can instantly see and comprehend any genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu, and reflect the attack back on the attacker. The Sharingan is a special, rare form of dojutsu. However, there's more to the Sharingan that that. A lot more."

Zabuza spoke to him. "You got it right boy, but you only scratched the surface. The Sharingan can analyze the opponents technique and then copy it to the smallest detail."

Suddenly mist began to cover all around us, making it hard to see. Kakashi was staring at me, clearly wondering what Zabuza had meant when he had spoken to me. I had never told anyone outside the Village Hidden in the Mist about us. The only reason that the village knew was because we had lived together.

_**3 Years Ago**_

_Zabuza came up behind me as I stood at the kitchen sink, jumped me. I had known who it was by the muscles in the arms so I relaxed. He grabbed my waist and turned me around. "Good morning." He had a small smile spread across his face, even under the mask that he made himself. Zabuza put his hand under my chin and lifted my face to his, kissing me through the mask. _

_"Good morning." I smiled back at him. _

_He was already dressed for the day. He wore his ANBU uniform just like he did every morning, this morning he was up and ready earlier than usual. "I'll be gone for the day."_

_"They have you leading a mission?" I despised when he went out without me._

_"I'll be fine. I promise." He kissed my forehead and went over to the dining room table, sitting down in one of the chairs. "I always come back to you, don't I?"_

_I sighed. "I know, I just hate it."  
_

_He gave me an apologetic smile and stood back up. "I promise I'll be back before it gets dark." He held the back of my head and pulled me to his shoulder, kissing the top of my head._

_"You better me." I looked up at him. "I'm going to hold you to that."_

_He turned and headed for the door. Zabuza opened the door, but before heading out the door he turned back around, standing in the doorway. "Raven?"_

_"Yea?" I turned away from the sink and put the plate I had picked up to wash back down._

_He smiled. "I love you."_

_"I love you too, Zab." What that he closed the door and the house was mine. He hadn't even been gone for a minute yet and the house already felt lonely. It left me alone with my thoughts, always wondering about the same person._

**Present Day**

Zabuza began to taunt Kakashi. "As for you Jonin, in the assassination unit of the Hidden Mist, we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. Raven on the other hands we've been told to go east on. Don't want our secrets getting out."

I cringed as he said the words and a shiver went through my whole body.

"We had a page for you in our bingo book Jonin. It called you the man that copied over a thousand jutsu. Kakashi the copy ninja. And we have something personal to settle." Zabuza looked over at me and smiled.

Kakashi looked taken aback by that last statement. He had never knew that Zabuza was the man I had been seeing in the Hidden Mist. I had never told him.

Naruto broke the silence. "Wow, that's so cool."

Zabuza bent down on his sword. "Enough talking. I need to exterminate the old man now." The kids all ran in front of him, kunai out and ready. "So I'll have to exterminate you first, eh Kakashi? So be it." He looked over at me again. "She wont do you any good. She's still in shock. Never thought you'd see me again?"

I swallowed hard. Zabuza grabbed his sword out of the tree and jumped away. He landed on the water and I looked over at Kakashi. "He's on the water." He was building up his chakra. I had see it a thousand times. The mist got thicker and he vanished.

The kids all seemed concerned. "Sensei's, who is he?" Sakura was the most worried.

"He'll come after us first." Kakashi looked over at me, clearly wanting me to tell them who he was. "You clearly know him better than you let on." I could tell that Kakashi's anger and annoyance with me was rising.

I sighed again. "Zabuza Momochi, the ex-leader of the Hidden Mist's assassination unit. He's a master of the silent killing technique. As the name suggests it happens in an instant, without sound or warning or any kind. It's so fast that you pass from this life without realizing what happened. The Sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard. Not even for a second." The all looked scared.

"If we fail we all lose our lives."

Sakura was angry now. "How can you say that Kakashi-Sensei?"

The mist got thicker. We couldn't see the kids anymore. "I don't like that we can't see the kids anymore Kakashi."

Suddenly we heard him talking. "Eight points," Kakashi and I searched. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now which will be my kill point." He had to be by the kids. Kakashi took his chakra and made it flow though his body, taking away the mist with a breeze. We had a line of sight with them which made me relax a little bit.

Sasuke looked terrified. I wanted to run over to him, instead, Kakashi and I spoke to him. "Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice broke him out of his trance.

I tried to relax him. "Calm down!"

Kakashi tried to reassure him. "I'll protect you with my life, all of you. I will not allow my comrades to die."

Deja-vu ran through me, hearing Kakashi say that made my skin crawl. If it was a precursor to the last time he said it, then this wouldn't end well. I turned to Sasuke. "If it's the last thing that I do, he will not lay a finger on your little brother. You have my word. Trust us."

They all relaxed a little until Zabuza spoke. "I wouldn't be so sure." Zabuza popped up in the middle of all of them. "It's over."

Kakashi and I zeroed in on him, our Sharingan taking over. "I've got him, you get Tazuna and the kids." I nodded to him and we both jumped into action. Kakashi jumped into Zabuza, throwing him backwards. I jumped and rounded all the kids in my arm, then jumped back and grabbed Tazuna."

When Kakashi jumped backwards into Zabuza he had taken out a kunai. It was now jabbed through his stomach. We all sat silently. Instead of blood dripping from the kunai, it was water. A clone. The real Zabuza popped up behind him, ready to cut him down with his sword. I panicked. "Kashi, behind you!"

Zabuza swung his sword. "Die!" As the sword hit him he turned into a puddle of water. Zabuza looked even angrier. Kakashi came up from behind him, putting a kunai to his throat. My heart almost leapt out of my chest. He had done it. Kakashi spoke. "Don't move." I could hear the anger radiating off Zabuza. "Now it's over."

As I watched my first serious love with a kunai to his throat I began to panic. I wanted to close my eyes. I couldn't watch this. We all stood in a circle around Kakashi and Zabuza. I couldn't bare seeing the two of them at each other's throats. All the feelings that I had thought were gone toward Zabuza came back at the sight of him near his end.

Kakashi was proud of himself. "You're finished."

All three of the kids were excited, cheering him on, but then I heard something. a chuckle came from Zabuza, something that was never a good thing when he was in a battle. I had heard that same chuckle a thousand times when I was on missions with him. "Finished..." He chuckled some more. "You really don't get it do you. Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation. I'll never be defeated by a mere copycat ninja like you." I could feel my blood boiling as he taunted Kakashi. Kakashi growled at him, which made him laugh even more. "You are full of surprises tho. You'd already copied my water clone jutsu when you made your little speech. Very skillfully executed. You made your clone say those words to draw my attention while you hid in the mist, waiting for me to make my move. Nice try, nut I'm not that easy to fool."

I could see Kakashi's anger rising in him and then we saw Zabuza fade to water once again. "Kakashi, it's a clone, behind you!" Zabuza swung his sword and Kakashi ducked just in time. As his sword embedded itself into the ground Zabuza sent a kick Kakashi's way, nailing him in the side. As Kakashi went flying though the air I couldn't help myself anymore. "KASHI!" Zabuza picked his sword up from the ground and went running after Kakashi. I looked at the kids. "Stay with Tazuna, no matter what happens."

I jumped into action. I threw spikes in front of Zabuza, causing him to stop in his tracks. I jumped down on the other side of the spikes with my hands ready to start a jutsu. A flashback hit me as I stood in front of him. This was the same as the night I first met him. "Zabuza, don't do this. Let us go. If not for the sake of these kids, then for me."

Zabuza stared at me. "Do you really think I'm going to let your little boyfriend go just because you asked me to Raven? How stupid do you think I am?" I could see all the kids in the corner of my eyes stare when Zabuza said the word 'boyfriend'.

"I don't want to fight you Zab." I began to slowly make the hand signs for the fireball jutsu. He ignored everything I had to say and readied himself. Serpent. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse... Did I really want to do this to Zabuza right now? I didn't have a choice. Kakashi was down and out at the moment and I had to hold him off. Tiger. I held me hands to my mouth in a cup and blew. I heard Zabuza panic a little. "Fireball jutsu." I heard him jump back as my flames hit the ground, causing a small crater. I couldn't see anything through my flames, one of the only down sides to the jutsu.

Suddenly Zabuza came at me from the side. "Forgive me Raven." I looked over as I saw his foot come flying toward me. I put my hands down and threw my arms out, blocking his foot just in time. His fist came at me next. I had forgotten how fast Zabuza was. I grabbed his fist with my hand, a major mistake on my part. Everyone knew that I had made a mistake as soon as I did it.

I heard Kakashi from behind me come out of the water. "Raven, look out, his foot!' Before I had even realized it his foot had met my rib cage and I was sailing into the tree.

I heard Kakashi trying to come out of the water, but Zabuza was quick. "Water prison jutsu."

Kakashi yelled. "No!" He was trapped in a ball of water, floating just above the water.

I picked myself up off the ground and grabbed my ribs again. They were in even more pain than they were before. A medical ninja would do some good right now. I tried to stand up, but dropped to my knees as soon as I did. They were definitely broken this time. I could see Kakashi's eyes on mine and I could feel the kids stares. I fought through the pain and stood up.

Zabuza looked down at Kakashi. "This prison is made of water, but it's as hard as steel. It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi."

I walked over near the water. "Zabuza, let him go. You can't hurt him without hurting me."

Zabuza chuckled. "I'll finish you off later, but first, your little friend needs to be eliminated." Another Zabuza popped up in front of the kids and I. The terror on their faces was like a book cover. One of their sensei was trapped and the other could barely move without falling over. I had to save the kids. "You think that wearing that headband makes you a ninja? When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't phase you then you may call yourself a ninja. When you became so deadly that your profile is in entered in my bingo book you then may be called a ninja. To call upstarts like you ninja, is a joke." Zabuza disappeared as the mist got thicker.

A foot came out of nowhere, kicking Naruto in the neck and sending him flying. I was beginning to feel useless. "Naruto!" His headband came flying off and he landed on the side of me.

Zabuza stepped on his headband. "You're just brats."

Kakashi started to yell to us. "Listen to me! Get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all of his power to keep me in this prison so he can only fight you with this water clone, but the clone can't go far from his real body. If you get away from him then he can't follow. Now run!"

I could feel my panic turning to anger as I listened to him. Not anger at Kakashi, but anger that I couldn't do anything, anger that I couldn't convince Zabuza to stop. "Kashi, I'm not leaving you."

"Go! Forget about me! Get your brother and the others and get out of here! Think about him!"

Suddenly I hard Sasuke yell. "We've got to do this."

Zabuza chuckled. "So this is the little brother you always talked about. How cute."

Sasuke took off at a run for him. I winced through the pain and ran after him. "Sasuke, no!" Sasuke threw his ninja stars at Zabuza, who dodged them with ease. Sasuke jumped into the air and sailed toward him with a kunai.

Zabuza reached up and grabbed Sasuke, holding him by the throat. "Too easy."

Sasuke squirmed under his grip. "If you hurt him Zabuza, the last thing i do with my life with be to end yours!" I jumped toward him with my kunai. When he saw me coming he launched Sasuke to the side and braced himself for my impact. He dodged me and ran in front of Naruto. Naruto tried to get away, but landed on his bad hand, causing him to stop completely. He looked down at his headband that Zabuza was standing on again. Naruto stood up and was clearly angry. He took off running for Zabuza.

Kakashi screamed from inside the water prison. "Naruto, no!"

Zabuza chuckled. "Fool." He hit him and sent him flying backwards with ease. When he came back he had his headband.

Naruto stood back up and put his headband on. "Hey you, the freak with no eyebrows. Put this in your bingo book. The ninja that will become Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, he never backs down." I could see that Zabuza was shaking his head with anger, he was getting annoyed. "His names Naruto Uzumaki." Sasuke and Naruto were scheming, I could tell. "Sasuke, listen up, can you hear me?"

Sasuke looked up. "Yea, I hear you."

"I've got a plan."

"So you're finally thinking about teamwork, huh?"

"Alright now, you guys, let's go wild."


	6. 6: Kill Or Be Killed

***Kakashi's P.O.V***

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Raven knew as well as I did that the kids had a death wish if they went after Zabuza, but she had no idea what to do and she was struggling. She yelled. "What do I do? I can't do anything!" She jumped in front of the kids, wincing as she landed.

"Help them as much as you can. They're not listening to me either." I knew I was in panic. I was trapped and Raven could barely move, these kids weren't going to make it through this if I didn't get out of this prison. "What are you guys doing?! I told you to run. This fight was over the minute I got caught and Raven got hurt! Now take off!"

Zabuza taunted them. "Big words for such a little man. You think your plans going to keep you in the game?"

Raven tried to convince the kids. "Your mission is not to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder. Stay on mission!"

Naruto turned around and looked at the bridge builder. "Bridge builder?"

"I guess this all happened because of me and my desire to live. I won't let that stand in your way now. Forget about me and do what you have to do. Go ahead and fight to save your sensei.

Sasuke got excited. "Alright, you hear that?" He was smiling.

Zabuza began to laugh now. "You really haven't learned anything have you? Still playing your little game and pretending to be ninja? When I was your age this hand had already crushed many opponents."

When he spoke it clicked into my head on exactly who Zabuza Momochi was. "Zabuza the demon."

"So I was in your book too, huh?"

"Long ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist, also known as Blood Mist Village, before a student could become a ninja there was one final test."

Zabuza looked down at me. "Do you know about that graduation exam?"

Naruto looked over at Raven. "What graduation exam?" Zabuza started to chuckle at him. "What's the big deal anyway? We had graduation tests too."

Zabuza looked over at him. "Did you have to kill the other students to pass?" Naruto looked shocked. "Imagine young ninja like you; eating together, training together, and then comes the final exam. Only they've changed the rules, kill or be killed. You can't stop while your opponent still breathes, he was your friend, shared your dreams, now it's him or you."

Raven continued for him. "Ten years ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist the graduation exam changed. One year before a dark evil had filled the school with terror. Without pause or hesitation a young boy who was not even a ninja approached the class and took down over a hundred other students."

Zabuza went to a dark place. "It felt... it felt so... GOOD!" He jumped toward the kids and elbowed Sasuke, sending him flying. After Sasuke hit the ground he ran at him and punched him in the stomach.

Raven lunged at Zabuza and with one swing Zabuza's clone sent her into the trees once again. When she got back up she knelt on one knee on the ground and one leg up, clutching her side. "Sasuke!"

Zabuza put one foot on Sasuke's stomach, reaching for his sword. Sasuke winced underneath him. "You're nothing."

Naruto intervened. "Stop right there." he started to make a hand signal. "Shadow clone jutsu." A dozen clones of Naruto appeared around Zabuza and Sasuke. Zabuza took his foot off Sasuke and all the clones took out kunai, letting Sasuke regain his balance. They all jumped at him and Zabuza swung his sword, making them all fly across the ground.

Raven shouted at the kids with no success. "His skills are too advanced. He's too strong, you'll never defeat him. Run like Kakashi told you!"

As Naruto's clones flew across the ground they started to disappear. One of them reached into his backpack and grabbed a shuriken, throwing it to Sasuke.

Sasuke grabbed the shuriken and opened it, standing his guard in front of Zabuza. "Demon wind shuriken, windmill of shadows."

Zabuza taunted. "Shuriken, you'll never touch me with that!" Sasuke jumped in the air and launched it at Zabuza. It flew past the clone and kept sailing. "So you passed the clone and aimed for my real body, smart, but not smart enough." Zabuza grabbed the shuriken out of the air and suddenly another shuriken came flying at him. Zabuza jumped, letting it fly underneath him. "I told you, shuriken can't touch me."

Sasuke smirked and the shuriken behind Zabuza and I turned into Naruto. Naruto threw a kunai at Zabuza. Zabuza's face turned to anger, but Naruto still spoke. "Eat this!"

Zabuza took his hand out of the water prison to stop himself from getting hit by the kunai, it barely scraped his face. He took the shuriken he still had in his hand and pointed to Naruto. "I'll destroy you."

I knew his next move was to throw the shuriken at Naruto so I jumped into action. I flung my arm in front of the shuriken, making sure the sharp part on the shuriken hit the metal plate on my glove. Even through the glove I could feel the blood start to trickle. I was pissed, they could all see it in my eyes. I commended the kids while I held Zabuza back. "Naruto, that was an excellent plan, you've really grown, haven't you?"

Zabuza tried to save his dignity. "I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison.

Raven appeared next to the water. "Don't flatter yourself."

I looked over at Raven. "Stay back, you're hurt." I looked back at Zabuza. "You were distracted, you were forced to let go." I let him see the fire in my eyes as I continued. "You'll never lay another hand on Raven either, I'll make sure of that."

Raven couldn't take the pain anymore. She dropped to her knees and winced even more, clearly trying not to yell out in pain. There had to be more than just broken ribs. Sasuke dropped next to her. "Are you alright, Raven?"

"I'll be fine. I have to help Kakashi." She tried to stand back up, but she couldn't.

"You can't even get up, you can't help him." Sasuke put his hand on her back. "Just let Kakashi-Sensei handle this. He can do it."

I spoke to Zabuza. "Your techniques may have worked on me once, but it wont work again. So what's it going to be?"


	7. Update 2-29-2020

Hey guys,

I know its been a while since I've updated this, life has been super crazy. Now that I've got my college schedule down I plan on trying to update the story at least once a week. I'm going to shoot for updating on Wednesdays ! I'm also planning on going through the updates that are already on and seeing what can be changed up a little. I hope you're still with me and ready to see the what craziness Kakashi and Raven can get into with Team 7 !


	8. 7: The Tracker In The Mist

***Raven's P.O.V***

Zabuza pushed the shuriken down harder on Kakashi's hand, making him wince a little, but he still kept his ground. Finally Kakashi had the strength. He took the shuriken and pushed, launching it out of his hand, sending it sailing into the woods. They both jumped backwards. Kakashi activated his sharingan and copied every move that Zabuza made. Perfectly. They began to make hand signals. A jutsu was coming. Suddenly two dragons came out of the water and fought each other. Kakashi was copying every move without hesitation. Zabuza took out his sword and swung at Kakashi, who stopped it with his kunai. They pushed back on each other, neither giving in. Finally they both jumped away from each other. From here the mimicking seemed almost juvenile. No matter what Zabuza did Kakashi mirrored it. He ran in a circle around the water, he held his left arm up and his right hand over his mouth.

The kids were noticing it. Tazuna spoke up. "He's not only mirroring his attacks, he's mirroring every move he makes."

Sakura was speechless about the whole thing. "How's he doing that?"

Zabuza put his hand down and so did Kakashi. Zabuza must have been thinking out loud because Kakashi began to talk, just loud enough for us to hear them on the water. "Going to do next." It was like he finished his sentence. Zabuza moved his hands together to form a triangle. "It makes your furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi put his fingers together.

Zabuza was mad. "All you're doing is copying me, like a monkey."

They spoke together. "You can't beat me with cheap tricks. I'll crush you."

Zabuza's eyes grew wide and the hand signals started. "When I'm finished with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again."

A shadow clone began to form behind Kakashi. Zabuza looked shocked so we knew it wasn't from him. When the clone formed it was another Zabuza. Kakashi spoke. "Water style, water vortex jutsu."

A vortex came out of the water and began to barrel toward Zabuza. "What? Impossible!"

I knew exactly what was going to happen. I grabbed onto Sasuke, holding him as tightly as I could. The water hit us with such force that it was hard to stand our ground. I was afraid if I let go of him he would be swept away. When the water settled Zabuza was pinned against a tree. Kakashi threw kunais from off in the distance, pinning him to the tree. Suddenly, above where Zabuza was, Kakashi perched on a branch.

I looked up at him, knowing what was going to happen next. Kakashi looked at Zabuza from above. "You're finished."

Zabuza looked up. "How? Can you see into the future?"

"Yes. This is your last battle. Ever."

Before Kakashi could send his last kunai into Zabuza, spikes came flying from out of nowhere, piercing him in the neck. Zabuza hit the ground and a person spoke from in the trees. "You were right, it was his last battle."

I tried to hold myself back, but my brain made my body move. I let go of Sasuke and ran to Zabuza, dropping to my knees. "Zab!" I could feel the piercing eyes of the copycat ninja on me.

Zabuza had been a big part of my life for five years and was the first man I had loved after Kakashi. I couldn't just throw him to the curb like garbage. I took his head in my hands and looked at him. Nobody else around us moved.

Kakashi jumped out of the tree and landed next to me. He must have put things together on who Zabuza was finally. "I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice." He felt for a pulse and when there wasn't one he stopped and looked up in the tree at the one who had thrown the spike.

The person bowed. "Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for this chance to finally take him down."

When they came closer Kakashi and I saw the mask. I couldn't make words so Kakashi spoke. "By your mask I see that you're a tracker from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"Impressive. You're well informed. I see there's a fellow Mist Village ninja here, so you know why I had to do this. You must be the girl that was in Zabuza's life before he went rogue."

I whipped myself around when the tracker spoke the last line. "What do you mean? I did this?"

The tracker said nothing for a long time. Finally, Sakura broke the silence, seeing Naruto's confused look. She began to explain what a tracker was. "When a rogue ninja leaves their village they carry all kinds of secrets with them. The secrets of their people. Trackers are specially trained to track down these ninja and eliminate them so that the secrets of their people remain secrets."

The tracker just stared at us from the tree and my blood started to boil. How could Zabuza do something like this to me? On the other hand, Kakashi was just as much at fault. Kakashi and Zabuza both fought each other, they both knew that it would hurt me, but they chose to anyway. This tracker had come out of nowhere, which made me angrier. This one was Kakashi's, they had yanked it out from under him. After what Zabuza had done to my brother, I wanted this settled by us.

The tracker spoke again. "That's correct. I'm a member of the elite tracking ninja for the Village Hidden in the Mist." I didn't recognize him. I had known most of their trackers from when I lived there with Zabuza, but this was someone who I had never encountered. "It was my duty to stop Zabuza."

Kakashi was still bent down next to Zabuza, watching the tracker, unsure of him. Sasuke walked over to us and stood in a protective stance in front of me. I kept glancing between the tracker, Kakashi, and Zabuza. I knew I should let go of Zabuza, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Suddenly, before any of us could stop him, Naruto ran up to stand in front of all of us and spoke to the tracker. He was angry and grunted as he looked around at all of us. "What is this?! Who do you think you are?" The tracker stayed silent which just angered Naruto more. "Did you hear me?"

Finally, Kakashi stood up and tried to redirect Naruto. "Easy Naruto. He's not our enemy."

Naruto turned around quickly. "Huh? That's not the point. Did you see what he did? Just like that?" Naruto was anxious. "Zabuza was huge, like some kind of monster. This kid, who's no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza with one move, like it was nothing. I mean, what does that make us?"

Sakura hung her head, I hated seeing the kids look down on themselves like this. They weren't trained like a tracker was and they didn't understand that. Kakashi walked to Naruto and put his hand on his shoulder.

I finally willed myself to let go of Zabuza and stood up, walking over to Sasuke. I walked him forward, away from Zabuza's body, and pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. He pulled away a little, not wanting to show any kind of sibling love in front of his fellow Genin. I knew what he was thinking, the same things as Naruto, though he'd never say it.

"We're just fumbling around, we don't know anything. How can I accept that?"

Kakashi moved his head from Naruto's shoulder to his head as he spoke to him. "Well, even if you don't accept it, still, it happened Naruto. In this world there are kids younger than you, and yet, stronger than me."

I felt Sasuke tense and heard his frustrated grunt. Naruto looked annoyed now and he stared back at Kakashi. With a gust of wind the tracker transported himself from the branch to next to Zabuza's body. My heart began to race again. I hadn't properly said goodbye.

The tracker began to speak as he picked up Zabuza's body. "Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body. They must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please, excuse me. Farewell." A gust of wind started to form around them.

I moved Sasuke to the side and started to walk as the gust of wind got stronger. I walked faster and before I could get there, they were gone. "Wait-!" My heart almost leapt out of my chest as I saw the body of the man I had once loved, most than anything, vanish in front of my eyes.

Naruto began running around, looking for the tracker.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. All I had wanted to do was tell Zabuza that I was sorry, maybe if I had never left, he would never have gone rogue. Then again, if I had never left, I'd never been reunited with Kakashi."

"He's gone Naruto, let it go." Kakashi broke the silence that surrounded us. He could sense that I was struggling and walked over to me. "Are you alright?" It was at this point that Kakashi no longer cared that we had been hiding our relationship from everyone. He pulled me into him and buried my head into his shoulder so that nobody could hear my sobs.

Kakashi knew that I wasn't crying because I wanted to be with Zabuza, it was tears because of all the memories that we shared, and because of what Zabuza had done for me five years ago. Kakashi knew that no matter what, my heart always belonged in the Leaf Village, not in the Mist Village. He had known that there was a man from the Mist Village out there somewhere, he just didn't expect it to be Zabuza Momochi.

Kakashi kissed the top of my head and I could feel the eyes of the team on us. "I know it's hard... but I'm here. I love you." He held my head up a little and wiped away the tears from under my eyes before putting his masked lips to mine.

Tazuno was the first person to break the silence on the matter. "Why do the kids looked so shocked right now? The only one without as much shock on his face is the black haired kid."

Kakashi looked around. "Our relationship isn't exactly public. We've been keeping it a secret so we wouldn't have the other ninja assuming we were only teaming up for that reason. We wanted them to see it was because we worked well together."

Naruto bent down on the ground and started to punch the dirt. "What are we doing here? We're nothing. I can't believe it."

We all stared dumbfounded at him, finally Kakashi walked over to him and grabbed his arm. "As ninja the things we encounter are never easy. Save your anger for the next enemy." He let of of Naruto as he relaxed a little and the looked at the rest of us. "We haven't completed our mission yet, we still need to get the bridge builder to his bridge."

Tazuna lifted his hand and looked nervously between Kakashi and I. "Sorry I caused all this trouble for you, you can rest at my house when we get to the village."

"Alright, let's get a move on." Kakashi started to walk forward and we all sighed with relief. As if we were all seeing it in slow motion, Kakashi stopped in his tracks and collapsed.

Naruto was the first of us to move for him. My heart started to beat of my chest again, a feeling I was beginning to hate more and more. I took off for him, ignoring the pain in my ribcage. "Kashi!"

The kids followed me. "Sakura was in a panic. "What happened?"

Naruto had worry all over his voice. "Kakashi-Sensei?"

I bent down and looked at the kids. "You all need to stay calm and listen to me. Tazuna, I'm gonna need your help." Tazuna nodded and the kids seemed to calm down a little. "How far is it to your village?"

Tazuna stuttered a little. "A-a-a-about a five or ten minute walk, not much further."

I looked at the kids. "Tazuna and I are going to have to carry Kakashi, I need you guys to be on alert at all times. It's just us now. Stay in formation, just like Kakashi would want, and stay on guard. Tazuna, you take the right, I'll take the left." We began to lift Kakashi and stand him up the best we could. I wrapped his arm around my shoulder and Tazuna did the same. Kakashi's dead weight was definitely going to get to me by the time we got to his village, I could already feel the burning in my ribcage. My adrenaline was so high I was able to ignore the pain. The kids got into formation and led us, eyes open everywhere they went.

* * *

When we got back to the village we were all relieved. Tazuno led us to his house and we all started to relax a little. With everything that had happened to us in the last twenty-four hours we all felt we would never be able to relax again. Tazuna helped me get the unconscious Kakashi to his spare bedroom. The kids followed us to the room and waited at the door. I turned and looked at them. "Tazuna, can you get the kids something to eat and drink and tell them where they can get some sleep?"

Tazuna looked between the kids and I. "Of course. Come with me you guys."

Tazuna started down the hallway, but none of them moved to follow. They all stared at Kakashi. Sakura was the only one to speak. "Is he going to be okay Raven-Sensei?"

I smiled a weak smile. "He's going to be fine you guys. The Sharingan takes a lot of chakra and energy from the user. He just needs some time recuperate. Go and get something to eat, I'll get him settled into bed, and then I'll come out. Trust me."

They all nodded and turned, following the path to the kitchen that Tazuna had just taken. I stood up and closed to the door to the bedroom and walked back over to the bed where we had laid Kakashi. I removed his shoes and covered him with the blanket, fixing the pillow under his head. I didn't want to leave his side, but I knew the kids would never get to sleep if I didn't come out there before I went to sleep.

I walked to the kitchen where they all sat around a small table, drinking juice end enjoying a bowl of ramen. I leaned against the kitchen wall next to Tazuna. "Where would you like them to sleep? If we're going to protect you on the bridge they need some rest."

Tazuna pointed to the doorway next to us. "I have three nice couches in there that will work for fine for them."

I smiled at him. "Thank you for this."

"It's the least I can do after the trouble I've caused. I never meant for anyone to get hurt, and I never meant for it to go that far.

I knew he was referring to Zabuza. "No one did."

"You had a history with that man in the woods?" I said nothing, trying to keep from thinking about it. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's not that. It's just a touchy subject." I signed. "I used to live in the Village Hidden in the Mist. It's where I stumbled into after I didn't feel like I belonged in the Village Hidden in the Leaves anymore. When I got there Zabuza took me in, trained me, he made the fighter that I am today. He gave me a place to lay my head, gave me my confidence, and made me feel like I was loved after my family had been killed. After we dated for four years he proposed. We were engaged for almost a year when I got word from the Leaf Village that they requested my help. When I felt for the village I was still engaged, but when I got there I ran into a man from my past that I had been seeing before I left after the attack. Kakashi."

The longer I stayed in the Leaf Village the more I realized that I should never have left and the more my feeling grew back for Kakashi. When Zabuza showed up at the Village and found Kakashi and I out for lunch, I left and never told him the reason why, but when I returned to him later on I was no longer engaged. Kakashi and I moved in together and I had almost forgotten about the Demon of the Hidden Mist until now. I hadn't seen him since the day he left the Leaf Village when we broke off our engagement."

Tazuna sighed. "I guess that complicates things a little."

"Kakashi knows about Zabuza and I's past, he just didn't know who he was, he never realized to put together my last name and Zabuza."

The kids looked over at us as their ramen bowels were emptied. Tazuna looked at the three of them. "You guys get some sleep on the couches in the living room. I left blankets on each of them for you."

They all stood up and walked toward the living room. I spoke to Sasuke as he walked by. "Sasuke, hold up."

He turned to me. "Yea?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Now he looked annoyed. "I said I'm fine. Your little boyfriend didn't hurt me that bad." He started to walk away. "But you clearly cared more about him dying than the fact that he tried to kill me."

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me. "What did you say Sasuke?" Sasuke glared at me. "Just because you're my little brother doesn't mean you can disrespect me like that. I'm your Sensei, you will respect me." I let go of his and he walked toward the couches. "I'll be in the next room if you guys need anything from me."

I walked into the bedroom, Kakashi was still unconscious. I slowly climbed into the bed next to him, putting my head on his chest. The stress of the day was finally too much for me. I let go of all of my emotions. I could barely breath in between my sobs. I sat up and tucked my knees into my chest, hugging them to myself. I tried to stay as quiet as I could. The last thing I needed was the kids hearing me crying. Suddenly I felt a hand rub my back. I stopped and let go of my knees, turning around to see Kakashi sitting up next to me.


	9. 8: There's No Such Thing As Heroes

***Kakashi's P.O.V***

"I'm sorry." Raven wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sure how I'm acting about this is just making you angry."

"I'm not mad Raven," I wrapped my arms around her legs and turned her toward me. She leaned against my arm. "I just don't want you to hurt anymore. I just wish you had told me who he was all along instead of keeping me in the dark like that." I kissed the side of her head. I could only imagine what she was feeling, when she left all those years ago I had been crushed. I had never had a serious relationship after that. She was in a whole different boat. "And if he hadn't been trying to hurt you and the kids I never would have done what I did."

She took a couple of hard breaths before looking up at me. She tried to calm herself down. "How are you feeling?"

I put my hand behind my head and ruffled my hair a little. "I've been better. I think I overdid it with my Sharingan. It'll probably be about a week before I can move normally." I put my hand under her chin and made her look up at me. "But I don't care how I am. Are you okay? How are your ribs?" Zabuza had taken advantage of knowing her old injury in their fight.

"I'm fine, really." She was finally starting to breath normally. She rubbed her ribs, almost like she had forgotten all about the pain in the meantime. "I'll be fine."

I pulled my mask down, something I rarely did when not in the comfort of my own home. I kissed her lips and ran my fingers through her hair. Before I could react Raven rolled toward me and pinned me down to the bed. I slowly moved my hands down her back and stopped when I held her waist. "Are the kids asleep?"

She leaned down and kissed my collar bone. "I don't know." She leaned in to kiss me, but I put a finger up to her lips. I flipped her onto her back and kissed her before standing up to take a peek on the kids. I felt weak, I could barely move, but I knew this would help Raven feel better, and who was I to tell her no?

I tiptoed to the living room and peeked my head around the corner. The kids were all fast asleep on the couch and the house was silent. I made my way back to the bedroom and shut the door slowly and softly behind me. I locked it and turned back to the bed. I climbed onto the bed and hovered over Raven. The Uchiha's black eyes were shining tonight. "Kashi, look at you." She put her hand on my chest. "You can barely move around."

"I'm fine." I kissed her. "I can do this." I started to strip my gear, fumbling around as I tried not to fall onto her. First came the vest, it landed on the rocking chair on the other side of the bed as I tossed it. I helped Raven out of her vest, her's black, our village colors differed. Next came our black long sleeves, coming off with ease. I kissed her again, my arms shaking as I tried to hold myself up from the bed. Raven reached down and began to push down my pants, doing hers in the process. Before I could object she had both of our pants off and she had wrapped her legs around my waist. With one swift movement she pushed against the bed and rolled us over, straddling my waist. She kissed from my chest to the bottom of my stomach and stared back up at me. The look she was giving made me even weaker. She slowly pulled down my boxers and made her way back up to me.

* * *

We awoke the next morning with the feeling of eyes on us. The kids were in the doorway, I could faintly hear them bickering quietly on who would come in first. Thank goodness we had gotten dressed before unlocking the door. Sakura came running to my side of the bed when she noticed our eyes open. "Listen Sensei, your Sharingan is amazing and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it."

"Sorry." I could hear how weak my voice sounded.

Tazuna came wandering into the room. "Well he did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, we'll be safe for a while."

Sakura was thinking. "Right, but you know that boy with the mask, what about him?"

Raven sat up in bed. "He's from the elite tracking ninja in the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks are only worn by the most elite Shinobi."

"What exactly do they do?"

I sat up next to her. "The ANBU black ops, also known as the inferno squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The Shinobi's body contains many secrets. Ninjutsu, chakra, and special medicines used on his body; these are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them his village will be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die to the hands of an enemy, he would try to analyze my Sharingan. In the worst case my entire jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the Shinobi trackers to prevent this; to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village then the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty. Tracker ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

"Is that really important?"

Raven looked over at me, something was brewing in her head. "Think about it, do you remember what the tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

"We don't know what he did. I mean, I guess he took it away somewhere."

That's when it hit me. "Exactly, but why, he should have worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible."

Tazuna looked at all of us. "How about some breakfast? We'll all go and start getting it ready and let them wake up a little more."

They all nodded and left the room, shutting the door on their way out. I looked over at Raven with a worried expression. "What's the matter?" She grabbed my hand.

"I just don't understand what I'm feeling right now. If Zabuza is finished, why do I feel this way?"

"Is it guilt Kashi?"

"No. Something is wrong. It's like I've missed something." I thought harder. That tracker should never had left with him, he should have done his work in the same place his body was slain. "Raven, think about the weapons the tracker used for the takedown. Do you remember what they were?"

She looked over at me. "Throwing needles..." I saw the exact moment reality hit her. "No way."

I knew she was on the same page now. "Exactly, none of it adds up."

Tazuna knocked on the door before opening it. "The kids and I were outside the door, sorry. What were you yammering about, you guys demolished that assassin."

What I said next sent everyone into panic mode. "Here's the truth, Zabuza is still alive."

The kids were freaking out.

Naruto yelled. "But we saw his body, believe it!"

Sakura was very confused. "Kakashi-Sensei, you checked him yourself, you said he had no pulse, his heart stopped."

I sighed. "His heart did stop, but that was just a temporary state to mimic death. The weapons that tracker used are called Senbon, they can pierce deeply, but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ, not in the neck. They're modified from medical treatments like acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know every detail about the human body, causing the heart to stop while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them."

"First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than his is. Second, he used Senbon, which have a precise effect, but are rarely fatal. From these two factors we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza, he was trying to save him."

Raven looked terrified. "Are you sure you're not overthinking this Kakashi?"

"Encountering suspicion the ninja prepares quickly, hesitation leads to disaster. Every Shinobi knows this saying."

Sakura was concerned. "Sensei, you said prepare quickly, but how can we do that if you can barely move?"

I laughed. "Raven is still around, and I can still train you."

"Hold on! A little last minute training isn't going to make us strong enough to fight Zabuza. You guys could barely defeat him, even with the Sharingan. We have to be reasonable about this." Sakura pointed at Raven. "And Raven can barely get around too."

I was getting angry with the kids. They were not only doubting Raven and I, but doubting themselves; a recipe for disaster. "Sakura, why was I able to stop Zabuza? Because you all helped me. You've grown." I looked over at Naruto. "Naturo." He looked up at me. "You've grown the most." A smile spread across the yellow haired boy's face.

"So you've noticed Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto was excited. "Now things are gonna get better, believe it."

A small voice from behind the kids put in it's two sense. "I don't believe it and it's not gonna be good." We all looked around to see a small boy in overalls and a fishing hat standing in the doorway.

Naruto wasn't happy about our intruder. He pointed at him. "Who are you?"

Tazuna looked over at him. "Inari, where have you been?"

The young boy ran to Tazuna. "Welcome back grandpa!"

A young woman walked in behind Inari. "Inari, that was very rude. These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely."

Tazuna smiled a little. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm rude to them too." He laughed and the little boy stared at all of us.

"Mother, don't you see that these ninja are gonna die? Gato will come back with his men and wipe them out."

I saw Naruto's face get red with anger. "What did you say brat?"

Raven shot Naruto a glare. "Naruto!" She growled at him.

"Listen up, do you know that a super ninja is? Well that's me, only a lot better. I'm gonna be Hokage. This Gato, or Blato, whatever he's called, is no match for a real hero like me."

The kid glared at Naruto. "There's no such thing as a hero. You're just full of stupid ideas."

"What'd you say!?" Naruto started to walk toward the boy and Sakura grabbed him, holding him back.

Sakura was getting angry. "Naruto, calm down."

"If you wanna stay alive you should go back where you came from." The boy walked toward the door.

Naruto was still squirming in Sakura's arms. Raven looked over at him and shot him another glare, clearly she had had enough of his antics already this morning. "Enough Naruto, relax."

Tazuna tried to stop him. "Inari, wait, where are you going?"

"To look out at the ocean. I wanna be alone."

"Sorry about that."

Raven sighed and looked over at me. The kids left the room and left just Raven and I. "I guess it's time to start training the kids more." Raven stood up from the bed. "Here's to hoping maybe this time we run into Zabuza I can talk a little sense into him."

"I tried to kill him Raven." I knew my tone was harsher than it was meant to sound, but she needed to hear it. "He's not going to listen to you. Your boyfriend tried to end his life, he's never going to forget that."

I could see the anger and annoyance on her face. "I'm going to talk to Sasuke." She left the room, leaving me alone to think everything over.

* * *

***Sorry the update was a day late you guys ! It's spring break for my school so I was out of town all day yesterday and got back way later than I thought I was going to. I hope you all enjoyed the last couple updates !***


	10. 9: And As For The Great Uchiha Clan?

***Raven's P.O.V***

I found Sasuke sitting on the small porch in front of the house. He was sitting on the step when I opened the door. He didn't move when I came out so I sat down next to him. I put my head in my hands for a minute before I talked to him. "I'm sorry Sasuke."

He looked over at me. "For what?"

"Last night, I should never have taken my anger and stress out on you like that."

"It's okay. I get it. I struck a nerve with what I said and I shouldn't have."

I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and pulled him into me. "You know that I cared more about you and your safety than I did having Zabuza alive, right? I would have died trying to save you if he had gotten any further yesterday."

"I know." Sasuke looked up at me. "I just couldn't stand to see you as hurt as you were when he went after Kakashi-Sensei. You two weren't as secretive as you thought you were walking through the woods either."

I chuckled at him. "You three can't say anything when we get back to the village. It has to stay between the three of us. Kakashi and I don't want people in the village to look at us any differently. I don't want them to break our team up. It's going to be hard enough to hide that the two of us are together when you come home with us."

"You have my word Raven." Sasuke stood up from the porch, leaning down to kiss the top of my head. "Love you big sis." He smiled as he walked back into the house.

As Sasuke walked through the door Kakashi walked out. He sat down next to me with a loud sigh. "Are you alright?"

I looked over and smiled. "Yea. I'm fine. Just had to have a heart to heart with him after what happened yesterday. I told him that the three of them needed to keep our relationship to themselves until we're ready to say something."

Kakashi kissed the side of my head. The Mask was silky as it touched my temple. "Eventually we will. We just need to find the right time."

I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. At least with the kids knowing it would be a little easier for us around them. We wouldn't have to worry as much about what we said.

* * *

Training the kids for the upcoming battle would be the hardest thing we had to do. We had told them to meet the two of us in the forest the following morning. Kakashi still wasn't completely up to par and had restorted to walking around using crutches to keep his balance as much as he could. I was still recovering from my injuries, but we had to prepare them as soon as possible. Who knew when Zabuza would strike again? And who would he bring with him this time?

The three of them stood in front of us, ready to learn. Kakashi leaned on his crutches and was hopeful that the kids were as ready to learn as they looked. "Okay, training starts now."

Naruto was excited, like he always was. "Alright!"

"First," Kakashi put one finger up. "We'll begin with a review on chakra, the ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential."

Sasuke was getting cocky, something that was his specialty lately. "We know that."

Naruto piped up with him. "He's right, a long time ago we learned about catra..."

I hung my head and looked over at them, hoping my disappointment was clear. "Chakra..."

Naruto looked embarrassed and started to sweat. Kakashi looked over at Sakura. "Go ahead Sakura." He knew she would be able to explain everything to Naruto quickly.

Sakura put her hands on her hips and I smiled and chuckled a little, Kakashi watching me out the corner of his eye. "Alright, Naruto. I'll explain it simply so you can understand it. Chakra is the elemental life energy that a ninja uses in jutsu. It's the source of his power. Now this energy comes in two forms; there's the phsyical energy which exists in all the cells and the entire body all work together. The other is spiritual energy, the primal source of power which is intensified by training and experience."

I yawned and saw Kakashi smile at me, trying not to laugh at me as Sakura continued. "As you see, these two chakra must be drawn out and brought together in order to perform jutsu. Finally, hand signs focus and unleash the chakra."

When Sakura looked back at Kakashi with a smile he looked over at Naruto. "Right on all points. Iruka-Sensei really did have some excellent students."

Naruto was still sweating. "What's the big deal with all these complicating explanations? The whole point is to learn the jutsu, isn't it?"

Sasuke looked annoyed, but he couldn't help but agree with Naruto. "Naruto is right for once. We're already using chakra in our jutsu."

I looked over at me little brother and raised my eyebrows. "No! You have not mastered this power, you've barely scratched the surface of it!" I was just as frustrated with Sasuke's cockiness as Kakashi was getting.

Naruto started to raise his voice. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi sighed. "Calm down a listen." How did we end up with these two stubborn kids? "It's just like Sakura said, you have to draw on physical and spiritual energies and then combine them. But, how do you do that?" Kakashi looked over at me, clearly wanting me to continue. He knew that Sasuke listen best to me.

I nodded. "Each jutsu uses a differnt type of chakra and in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now you've just guessed at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, if you can't balance and control it, it's all worthless. The jutsu wont work at all of it'll be a joke. You waste so much energy that way and then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all, you're just a target."

Naruto looked a little embarassed, knowing he had a problem with that in the academy. He scratched his head. "So how do we change that?"

I was getting more frustrated so Kakashi cut me off. "Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal you must be ready to put your life on the line."

They all looked confused, especially Sakura. "What do we have to do?"

Kakashi pointed up. "Climb a tree."

They all spoke at once, complete confusion in their voices. "Climb a tree?"

"That's right." I smiled and cut Kakashi off. "But there's one rule; no hands."

Now the kids were even more confused. Sakura just looked annoyed. "What? You're kidding?"

"Are we? Let's see." Kakashi looked over at me and nodded. We both put our hands together and balanced our chakra. Kakashi hobbled over to the nearest tree and I followed. We climbed up the same tree , using just our chakra, focused on our feet. The kids stared dumbfounded on the ground. Just to throw them off even more we walked to the largest branch on the tree and hung upside down, having to focus even harder so we wouldn't plummet to the ground. "You get the idea. Focus your chakra to the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to use the power of chakra." Kakashi smiled at them.

"Wait a minute, that's a nice trick, but how does that help us fight Zabuza?" Sakura was once again, full of questions.

I let out a breath to calm down a little before speaking. "It's the only way to fight Zabuza. That's the entire goal of this training you guys. First, you'll learn how to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise part of your body. This is difficult for even advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a precise mixture of physical and spiritual energy and the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult place to balance chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this, you can master any jutsu."

Kakashi interrupted me. "Well, theoretically," I shot him a glare. "The second point is to learn to maintain your chakra. When a ninja is in battle it's even harder to maintain and control his chakra levels, a deadly mistake. To avoid this maintaining chakra must become second nature, effortless." I paused for a second. "Well, I could talk about this all day, but that won't advance your skills, will it? You need to apply the power of chakra through training."

Kakashi pulled out two kunai and I pulled out one. We threw them to the kids. Naruto and Sakura caught Kakashi's and Sasuke caught mine. I spoke. "Use the kunai to mark the tree at the highest mark that you can climb, without using your hands. Then try to get past that mark the next time. At first you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum will take you as high as possible. Until you get used to it anyway."

Kakashi continued where I left off. We were trying our hardest to teach as a pair. "Ready?"

Naruto picked up his kunai. "I'm ready. This is gonna be no sweat all the way, believe it. Remember what you said Sensei. I'm the one that's grown the most."

It was then that we knew we should never have said that to him. Kakashi sighed. "You're definitely the one that talks the most. Now get focused and do it."

Naruto looked offended, but shook it off. The kids put their hands together and started to balance their chakra. They all took off at a run. Naruto made it two steps up the tree before falling. Sasuke made it about a quarter of the way before his chakra balance went off and smashed the tree some with his foot, marking it with the knife before coming back down. Sakura on the other hand sat on a branch about halfway up her tree, smiling down on the boys. I was extremely proud of her. "Well," I looked particularly at Sasuke, not afraid to be the toughest on him. "Looks like the female member of the squad has the most chakra control."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at the boys and Kakashi praised her. "Well done Sakura."

Naruto was at least being a good sport about it. "Yea! Good job Sakura. I always knew you were awesome, believe it."

Sasuke looked up at me and mumbled, not realizing that we could all hear him. "Whatever."

Sakura was instantly distraught, clearly she was hoping she would impress him. Kakashi tried to help her out a little. "Not only can Sakura control chakra, she can hold and maintain it as well." He looked toward Naruto. "We spoke about someone becoming Hokage one day, didn't we?" He was trying to get a rise out of the boys to make them try harder. "Seems Sakura's got the best chance of that. Wouldn't you say?" Kakashi stepped over the line with his next crack, not only getting a rise from Sasuke, but from me. "And as for the great Uchiha clan, maybe they're not so great after all."

Sasuke and I glared at Kakashi, and so did Sakura. "Shut up Sensei, you talk to much."

Kakashi looked over at me. "Alright, I think they're motivated. I know Naruto and Sasuke have much more chakra within. If this training works their mastery of chakra will become a valuable asset."'

I was still glaring. "And you little comment about the Uchiha clan? What was that?"

"I was just trying to get your brother going, I know how he feels about your clan."

"Well, don't push it with that again Kakashi, or I'll knock your chakra off balance and let you fall from this tree."

He chuckled at me. "You're cute when you're angry." If steam could be coming from my ear it would be. And with that, they all began to attempt the tree again, each time getting just a little farther.

After an hour or so the kids were all exhausted. The kids were definitely learning from the teamwork. Naruto went and huddled next to Sakura. Kakashi smiled at me. "He's catching on. From now one he'll only get stronger and stronger. How strong tho?"

I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Naruto possesses more chakra than Sasuke. I can feel it."

"In fact, the amount of chakra he possesses is greater than my own, and yours."


	11. Update 3-28-20

**Hey guys ! Sorry I'm a couple days late on the update this week. I will have the chapter that should have been up on Wednesday up today, March 28th, no later than this afternoon! It'll be around 2 P.M the latest for my time in New England in the US! Hope to get it up sooner than that, we'll see what the morning holds for me ! **


	12. 10: The Story Of Kaiza

***Kakashi's P.O.V***

In between training the kids about chakra we had to help Tazuna with protecting his bridge. The next morning I sent Sakura with Tazuna along with Raven, since Sakura was the most advanced in this already. I knew the two of them would be fine without me so I stayed behind to make sure the boy were focusing on their training.

As sundown broke the boys were still at it. They would soon become exhausted, but knowing the two of them, as long as one of them pushed on the other would push on, wanting to best each other. I knew the boys were probably at each other's throats, but I needed to get some rest, so I headed back to the hut, telling them to come back when they had had enough.

When Raven and Sakura walked through with Tazuna I was relieved to say the least. I wrapped Raven into my arms and kissed her forehead. "How was your day?"

"Quiet. He had one of his builders quit, but nothing other than that." She looked up at me and pushed her lips toward me. I leaned down and kissed her. "How was yours?"

"Uneventful. The boys are slowly making progress with the tree, but they're too worried about surpassing the other to focus enough."

Raven sighed. I figured as much. I know how competitive my brother can be."

Sasuke and Naruto came through the door a couple minutes later and we all sat down at the table to enjoy a meal prepared by Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami. I've never seen the boys scarf down food so fast. Tazuna seemed happy to have company. "This is fantastic, it's been a long time since we've had this many guest around our table."

Both boys stood up and held their bowls in the air, glaring at the other as they spoke together. "I want some more!" After they yelled both of them turned sideways and threw up all over the floor.

Raven glared at Sasuke and Sakura started to yell. "Don't eat so much if you're just going to puke it back up!"

Sasuke ignored his sister's glares and spoke again. "I have to eat."

Naruto talked through gritted teeth. "And I have to eat more than him. It's the only possible way to beat him."

I crossed my arms and looked at the both of them. "That's true. But puking wont help you."

Raven stood up from her seat, walked over to Sasuke, and slapped him in the back of the head. "Learn some manners Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto burst out laughing and she walked to him, doing the same. "Don't think I didn't mean you too, Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura wandered around the kitchen, looking at pictures. "Excuse me?" She turned around. "This picture is torn, is there some reason for that?"

We all turned to look at what she was talking about. There was a lone picture hanging on the wall behind us. The picture showed Tazuna, Tsunami Inari, and another person had been ripped out of it. Tsunami spoke up before anyone could say anything else. "It's my husband."

Tazuna's whole attitude changed. "They used to call him a hero in this land."

Inari stood up from the table and started to walk out, clearly worrying Tsunami. "Inari, where are you going?" Instead of answering Inari shut the front door behind him. Tsunami started for the door. "Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari! You know that!" I had not seen Tsunami like this since we had shown up here. She slammed the door behind her.

"How come Inari is so..." Sakura paused. "What happened to him?"

I piped in. "Is there a story to this?"

Tazuna began. "He wasn't his real father, he came into our lives later. He brought so much happiness, he and Inari were so close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time. But then..." Tazuna was having a hard time getting his words out and we began to see tears hitting the table. "All that ended. He never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since the day everything changed."

"The word courage was stolen from this island. We were left feeling powerless, hopeless, and Inari suffered the most. Ever since that day, ever since it happened."

"Tell us..." I was generally curious now. "What happened to Inari?"

"First, you need to know about the man, his father. The man who taught us the word courage, who was a hero in this land." Tazuna took off his glasses and wiped the tears from his eyes. "He came here about three years ago. Inari's dog, Pooch, was thrown into the lake by some bullies. Inari was not able to swim and when they told him they weren't going to save the dog Inari stood at the edge of the bridge, contemplating what to do. Suddenly, one of them pushed Inari into the water and at that exact moment Pooch figured out how to dog paddle. Pooch had run to find help and the boys on the bridge chased after him, trying to stop him."

"When the boys ran off a man pulled Inari out of the water, cared for him, and fed him. His name was Kaiza. He was a simple fisherman who had come here from another land to follow his dreams. After that Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. The boy never met his real father so you could imagine what it meant to him to have Kaiza in his life. He looked up to him, followed in his footsteps, like a real father and son. Kaiza spent more and more time with us until, naturally, he just became a part of our family. And then when this town needed him he became something more."

"One night, when the flood gates had opened and our lower district was about to be flooded, the townspeople came to Kaiza to ask for help. Kaiza jumped into action. Someone had to jump into the water and tie a rope to the gate so the townspeople could pull it shut. Naturally, when no one wanted to step up, Kaiza did. Kaiza made it to the gate and tied the rope to the gate so the townspeople could begin to pull it shut. From that time on Kaiza was considered a hero to this village. He taught us all the meaning of courage and Inari was so proud to be his son, but it wasn't long after that Gato showed up and took over. He terrorized the whole village. Only Kaiza stood up to him. Gato couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole gang to stop one man."

" Gato strung Kaiza up on a pole in front of the whole town, including Inari. Gato told everyone that he had defied the Gato Corporation and sentenced him to execution for his punishment. He wanted him to be an example so nobody stood in his way again. Inari watched as they executed Kaiza. Inari was crushed that Kaiza was not there to protect us anymore. Since then Inari has changed, so has Tsunami and all of our people. We lost our will."

When I looked over at Raven she had tears rolling down her cheeks. She had always been a sucker for stories like this. Naruto stood up from the table to walk away and instantly fell to his face. "You need to relax and take some time off Naruto. You've used up too much chakra. If you push any harder it could kill you."

Naruto was focused. "I'm gonna prove it."

We all looked at him confused. Sakura was annoyed with him again. "Prove what?"

"I'll prove that it's true." Naruto slowly stood back up. "That in this world, there are real heroes."

Naruto ran off and we all knew exactly where he was going... back to the tree.

* * *

We sat around the table for tea that next morning. Naruto still hadn't returned from his training last night. I wouldn't let anyone see it or know, but I was starting to worry about him. Tazuna said something about it first. "Naruto didn't come back again last night?"

Sakura was worried too, but didn't want to sound it. "He's gone completely nuts, he's out there climbing trees in the dark. He could be dead right now, you know, from using up too much of his chakra."

Tsunami was disappointed in Raven and I, you could tell by her voice. "Well I certainly hope he's alright, a kid out in the woods alone all night."

I spoke up, defending Raven and myself. "There's nothing to worry about. Naruto's a goofy kid, but he's a full fledged ninja. He can handle himself."

I never thought I would hear Sasuke say the next words, even Raven was in shock. "Sakura's right, Naruto's such a loser he's probably laying out there dead somewhere." Sasuke stood up from the table and walked toward the door.

Sakura watched him. "Sasuke?"

"I'm going for a walk."

"But we just started eating." Sakura looked down to see Sasuke's empty plate and stopped talking.

I looked over at Raven who seemed worried. I nodded toward the door. "Go."

Raven stood up and started walking. "Sasuke, wait." And with that she shut the door behind her.

* * *

As an hour went by I began to get nervous. None of them had returned so I grabbed Sakura and we took off for the woods. I found Raven and Sasuke with Naruto in the clearing we had used the trees from. Sakura and I just barely dodged a kunai that landed in front of us and when we looked up we saw Naruto laying on a branch at the top of his tree.

Sakura was amazed. "Woah, Naruto can climb that high using his chakra?"

Naruto was proud of himself. "What do you think? Is this high enough for you guys? I mean, it's a long way down. Huh?"

Suddenly we saw Naruto start to slip as he stood up. My eyes grew wide and I looked over at Raven. "Uh-oh" He began to scream, which caused Sakura to scream, and Raven began jumping through the trees, ready to dash across and grab him, landing on another branch.

Before Raven could do her final jump and grab him Naruto balanced himself with his chakra and he looked at all of us with a smile. "Just kidding, you guys really fell for it." He began to laugh.

Sakura yelled at him. "We were worried about you Naruto."

I had a weird feeling. "Why do I think this is going to end badly?"

Naruto's feet finally came loose from the tree and this time he was really falling. Sakura was even angrier now. My eyes have never grown so wide in my life and she hollered. "You just had to push it, didn't you show off."

I hollered to get Raven's attention, who was currently watching Sasuke. "Raven, help Naruto!"

Naruto began to scream and both the Uchiha sibling went into action. Sasuke scaled the tree and just as Raven got down to Naruto's level Sasuke climbed under a branch and grabbed onto Naruto's ankle, hanging there with him. Sasuke smirked at him. "You really are a loser Naruto.

Sakura yelled from the ground and I saw Raven smiling at her brother. "Alright Sasuke, you're the best."

Raven jumped down and landed next to me. I looked over at her and smiled. "If we're still sane by the time we're done their training, it'll be a miracle."

"You've got that right." She laughed.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her to me, kissing the side of her head and laughing with her.

* * *

All but Sasuke and Naruto were sitting at the table, ready for dinner. Sakura was clearly worried about them, Raven and I not so much, "Now they're both late. I wouldn't have expected that from Sasuke."

Raven was annoyed. "Me either."

Sasuke and Naruto came through the door a second later. Sasuke had Naruto's arm wrapped around his shoulder. Tazuna taunted them a little. "What have you been up to? You look like something that cat dragged in."

Naruto looked up. "We both made it. We climbed all the way to the top."

I looked over and smiled. "Good, now we move on, starting tomorrow you're both body guards for Tazuna."

They both smiled. Naruto threw his arm up and yelled. "Alright!" When his arm went up they lost their balance and both fell onto the ground.

Sasuke was clearly angry now. "You're such a loser!" We all chuckled and settled in for dinner.

Tazuna looked around the table. "In a few more days the bridge will be finished and I'll have you to thank for that."

Tsunami was very motherly to everyone. "You've all done great, but you've still got to be careful."

"I've been meaning to ask you this, but I haven't had the chance until now. Why did you stay and protect me, even after you found out I lied to bring you here?"

I looked at him and put my hands together. "Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice can not survive."

Tsunami looked confused. "Huh?"

"That was a quote from the first Hokage."

Naruto was asleep at the table, Inari was watching him. Tears started to fall from Inari and we all looked over at him. "But why"

Naruto woke up when he spoke and looked at him. "What'd you say?"

Inari slammed his hands on the table. "All this stupid training it just a waste of time. Gato's got a whole army. They'll beat you down and they'll destroy you. These cool things you all say, they don't mean anything. No matter what you do, the strong always win and and weak always lose."

Naruto laid his head back down. "Just speak for yourself. It won't be like that for me, you got that?"

"Why don't you just be quiet!? Looking at you makes me sick. You don't know anything about this country, you're just butting in. Always laughing and playing around, you don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt!"

I knew that was going to strike a nerve with Naruto. Naruto slowly lifted his head up. "Listen to yourself, whining and complaining like some sort of little victim." Inari's face turned to shock. "You can whimper all day for all I care. You're nothing but a coward."

Sakura was mad now. "Naruto, you went too far!' Naruto stood up and walked away and her face changed from anger to guilt. "Naruto?"

Inari stood up from the table and went outside. I looked between Tazuna and Tsunami and then to Raven. Raven looked upset. "Let's go and talk to Inari." She looked toward Tazuna. "As long as you don't mind anyway."

Tazuna shook his head. "Be my guest."

Raven and I stood up and walked toward the door. She looked back at Sasuke and Sakura before we left the room. "We'll be right back.

When we reached where Inari was sitting on the deck I slowly approached. "Can we talk to you?"

Inari looked behind him and nodded. I sat on one side of him and Raven sat on the other. Raven spoke first. "I'm sorry about Naruto." She smiled at him. Inari just stared.

I tried next. "Naruto can be a little harsh sometimes, but he doesn't hate you."

"Your grandfather told us what happened… to your father."

I wanted to try to make him realize that him and Naruto weren't much different from each other. "You probably don't know this, but Naruto grew up too, without knowing his father. In fact, he never knew either of his parents, and he never had a single friend in our village." Inari looked up at me. "Still, I've never seen him cry, sulk, or give up. He's always eager to jump in. He wants to be respected. That's his dream."

Raven took over. "He'll put his life on the line for that in a heartbeat. My guess is, he just got tired of crying and decided to do something about it. Even though he's young and still learning he knows what it means to be strong, like your father did."

Raven looked over at me. She had tears welling up in her eyes so I started to talk, wanting her to calm down. "I think he knows better than any of us, what you're going through. What Naruto told you earlier, as cruel as it sounded, he's probably told himself that a thousand times."

Raven started again. "And not only that, but Sasuke and I, if you didn't already know, we're brother and sister. When Sasuke was 7 years old, his older brother and my younger brother, Itachi, who was only 13 at the time, massacred our family. I had barely trained to be a ninja at the age of 18 and I had barely any skills. Itachi was part of the ANBU Black Ops, so he had special training. I couldn't stop him, I had all I could just to protect Sasuke from him. I watched as Itachi killed my parents and he would have killed me too, if Sasuke hadn't walked into the room, distracting him. Sasuke grew up with no parents and without me. I had gone to hunt my brother down and had lost Sasuke in the process. It's just this last month that I found him, after five years, so Sasuke can sort of relate to you too."

"You can always talk to us, we're more than happy to listen Inari. You'd be surprised what has happened to some ninja." I stood up and helped Raven up. "We're gonna head to bed, but our door will be open if you need us."

I took Raven's hand and we walked back toward the door. Raven turned around once to look behind us, sighing as she turned back around.

When the two of us climbed into bed we fell asleep faster than we ever had.


End file.
